Sharks rookie centers Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith faced a tough task adapting to the brutal demands of the NHL, a challenge which San Jose assistant general manager Ryan Clowe believes the young pair of stars have excelled in.
During an exclusive interview with NBC Sports California's Alan Hoshida, Clowe detailed what stands out about the teenagers' early showings during their respective rookie seasons.
"I think they adapted great. I think Macklin obviously has produced for a young kid, an 18-year-old," Clowe told Hoshida. "He's impressive because he plays the whole rink. He can play all three zones. He's really good at the puck in the D-zone, he's really competitive at the puck in the D-zone which is challenging for a young kid at that age, to play center. Center is a tough position for a young forward to play in the league."
While Smith isn't having the same Calder-Memorial-Trophy-caliber campaign as Celebrini, the 19-year-old center has taken significant strides throughout the 2024-25 NHL season.
"Smitty has done a great job overall having progress throughout the season developing. He has elite vision, great poise with the puck, makes a lot of solid plays offensively," Clowe told Hoshida. "Even older guys like playing with him because he can get you the puck in the right places. Very smart player and talented player. So those guys have had great growth throughout the year and will be building blocks moving forward."
Clowe further lauded Smith for his rapid development and praised the Sharks' coaching staff for the hands-on approach that has produced promising returns so early in the rookie's NHL career.
"I think we knew going into it for both Mack and Smitty that it was going to be, at that age, a challenge coming into this league. It's a tough league," Clowe said. "You see the best players and the competitive level they play with, it's a challenging league. I think Smitty has, I like his progression throughout the year. I thought early on it was an adaptation and there's still moments where it's challenging for him.
San Jose Sharks
"But I think overall, he's really kind of settled in and understanding it. Coach [Ryan Warsofsky] has done a great job. They've done a great job with him, they got to get a lot of credit. They play him in a lot of situations, they push him to be better in certain areas and he responds. He has a real passion for the game and he's come a long way."
There was plenty of hype surrounding Celebrini as the consensus No. 1 prospect in the 2024 NHL Draft, but many pundits and fans alike didn't foresee the Sharks star having the same potential as Chicago Blackhawks center Conor Bedard, who went No. 1 overall a year prior.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Quickly, Celebrini showed that he not only deserves to be mentioned in the same class as Bedard, but that at 18 years old, he is a bona fide star that any franchise would be eager to build around moving forward.
So when exactly did the Sharks' brass know they had a franchise-changing talent on their roster and what were the tells for Clowe and Co.?
"I think early on it was fairly evident just because of the competitive level of Macklin," Clowe said. "Like I said, as a center at that age, it's a challenging league and he has adapted. He does a lot of things to me, that impact winning and that's what's impressive at that age. He does a lot of things that not necessarily the regular fan would see. You see his explosiveness and some of his goals, his plays with the puck which is elite. But, some of the things he does game-to-game for someone that age is impressive. A lot of it impacts winning and that's why we're excited."
Celebrini is tied with Philadelphia Flyers wing Matvei Michkov for second among all rookies in points (44), trailing only Montreal Canadiens defensemen Lane Hutson (46). This is exceptionally impressive considering that Celebrini has played far fewer games (50) than Hutson (61) and Michkov (59).
Despite the Sharks boasting a league-worst 16-37-9 record, there has been plenty of positives for San Jose to take away from a tough campaign in terms of building optimism for the future -- with none greater than the promise showed by Celebrini and Smith.
