Macklin Celebrini and Sidney Crosby are the only active NHL players to have recorded a 100-point season as a teenager. But the stars are similar in many more ways than that.
When Macklin Celebrini hit the 100-point mark on Monday, the 19-year-old made history.
The San Jose Sharks center became just the sixth teenager to hit 100 points in NHL history. The list of players to accomplish the feat is impressive beyond belief.
Celebrini joins a stellar list that includes Wayne Gretzky (1979-80), Dale Hawerchuk (1981-82), Mario Lemieux (1984-85), Jimmy Carson (1987-88) and Sidney Crosby (2005-06 and 2006-07).
Three of those five players are Hockey Hall of Famers. Crosby is poised to be inducted as soon as he is eligible. Celebrini hopefully has nearly two decades of hockey ahead of him to build his own case for the Hall.
What is most interesting about this list is when each season occurred.
The first four instances of a 100-point teenager, from Gretzky to Carter, occurred during the high-flying 1980s. It was an era of inflated goal totals across the league, with scoring off the charts. That's not to discredit anything that those four players did; it's just to provide context of the era in which they accomplished the stunning feat.
When Sidney Crosby was drafted in 2005, there was hype that had never been seen again. From interviews as a pre-teen to the incredible QMJHL run that he had prior to being drafted, Crosby was seen as the new face of the NHL before he set foot on NHL ice.
Simply put, he delivered.
Recalling Crosby's Elite Teenage Years
A 102-point rookie year as an 18-year-old was simply stunning. What made Crosby truly exceptional, though, was the style of play in which he was able to have success.
He wasn't a player who strictly relied on his skill or speed. While he's made countless highlight-reel skill plays throughout his lengthy career, it's the gritty, ultra-competitive, workhorse game that he plays that has made him an all-time great.
His work on the forecheck, in board battles and around the net was what differentiated him from the uber-elite players of his era. He was always capable of doing the amazing, but it was his willingness to do the dirty work that made him a potential top-five player of all-time when his career ends.
Fast-forward two decades, and with Crosby at the tail end of his career, he's still putting up elite production.
At the same time, a player was drafted first overall and entered the league as a teenager to become the savior of his team, albeit with far less hype.
Comparing Celebrini To Crosby
Celebrini has become the face of the Sharks, and he's slowly becoming one of the best players in the NHL.
In his second NHL season, the 19-year-old became just the second player outside of the 1980s to hit 100 points as a teenager. Although it wasn't in his rookie season, it remains an incredibly impressive feat.
It's a feat that Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon or any other star in the game today cannot say they accomplished. It's only Crosby and Celebrini.
When Celebrini stepped into the NHL last year, he was quickly compared to Crosby stylistically. He was doing all of the little things: working off the boards to the middle of the ice, winning puck battles in all three zones, getting in on the forecheck and making legitimate efforts on the backcheck.
His competitiveness and dogged mentality drew comparisons to Crosby.
The maturity in his game was instantly recognizable. They were stylistically very similar players. They weren't the fastest or most purely skilled. Like Crosby, Celebrini's drive has elevated his game to the top of the NHL.
He's one of the most promising players in the league for good reason.
We've seen this story before of an elite player with an all-world work ethic and uber-competitive mindset who elevates the skill in his game with his grittiness.
Looking Ahead
Celebrini still has a long way to go to truly have his career compared to Crosby's, but there aren't many players in the world who deserve the stylistic comparisons to the Penguins legend.
If Celebrini can continue to push the envelope as a detail-oriented center who puts up gaudy point totals, we could be seeing a career that at least resembles Crosby's if you squint.
As we get set to say goodbye to Crosby, it's been fascinating watching him pass down the knowledge he's accumulated to Celebrini at events like the World Championship and the Olympics, where the two stars played together. It's been captivating to watch Crosby play the mentor role for a player who brings the same kind of fire that he brought.
The past, present and future of the game might be shaped by two players who are great not only because of their tools but the internal drive that burns inside of them. That, in and of itself, is the perfect representation of the best parts of hockey that we all love.
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