San Jose Sharks superstar Macklin Celebrini is on pace for an incredible offensive season. But can the Sharks ride Celebrini's dominance to a Stanley Cup playoff spot?
As he gets deeper into his sophomore NHL season, San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini is stepping up his game to scary levels.
After producing 38 assists and 63 points in 70 games last season, the 19-year-old Celebrini has 36 assists and 54 points in just 36 games this year. That’s a pace that would see him generate an incredible 82 assists and 123 points this season.
Even a slight tapering off in his offensive production should still see him reach the 100-point plateau.
But the bigger question about Celebrini is - will his offensive dominance put the Sharks into the Stanley Cup playoffs this season?
Although Celebrini is one of the most entertaining young players on the planet, the state of San Jose’s roster is such that making the playoffs this year is still a bridge too far for the Sharks.
San Jose’s current record of 17-16-3 and their standings point percentage of .514 is a vast improvement on their 20-50-12 record and .317 point percentage last season.
However, the Sharks staying where they are right now – in fifth place in the Pacific Division, and in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference – is going to be extremely difficult for a young San Jose team.
Why? It will be a heavy challenge for the Sharks or any other team to be the fifth team in the Pacific Division to lock up a post-season spot.
The highly competitive Central Division is almost assuredly going to have four playoff teams this year. That means Central teams currently below San Jose in the standings – the Utah Mammoth, St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets – all could make a playoff push.
As it stands, the Mammoth are tied with the Sharks with 37 points, while the Blues are one point behind San Jose, and the Jets are five points behind the Sharks with two games in hand. So believing that San Jose could be overtaken in the Western Conference wild-card race isn't a serious stretch.
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This is not to suggest the Sharks don’t have a lot to be happy about this season, even if the season ends with San Jose out of the playoff picture.
With Celebrini and fellow youngsters Will Smith, William Eklund and Sam Dickinson on board, the Sharks are going to be a team to reckon with in relatively short order. But asking San Jose’s core to lift this team from being the worst team in the league last season to eighth place in the conference or better this year is asking too much.
Celebrini is clearly a special player, but no player can put this San Jose team on their shoulders and singlehandedly carry them into a playoff spot by the end of the year. There’s still some pain ahead for the Sharks, but at this time next season, the story could be rather different for them.
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