Macklin Celebrini might have fallen short when it came to winning a gold medal at the Olympics and also leading his team to a playoff spot last season.

But the San Jose Sharks center didn't go home empty-handed.

On Tuesday, the 20-year-old was named the cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL 27.

It's a recognition that Celebrini, who ranked fourth in NHL scoring with 115 points, has already established himself as one of the league's top superstars.

"The cover athlete is always a big deal to the community, and this guy embraces everything NHL 27 is," said NHL 27 senior game design director Mike Inglehart. "He's an elite player already at his age. He's doing great things in the NHL level, also he's made an impact with Team Canada at the Olympic level. Everything about his game is really what NHL 27 is."

Added NHL 27 lead producer Andy Beaudoin: "Man, what a talent he is. So fast on the ice."

The popular hockey video game will be released on Sept. 4.

Last year's NHL 26 cover featured brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, along with their father, Keith. Two years ago, brothers Quinn, Jack and Luke Hughes were on the cover. This is the first year since NHL 24, when Cale Makar was on the cover, that an individual player was chosen to be the cover athlete on all editions of the game.

In choosing Celebrini to be the cover athlete, EA Sports is going young. 

Celebrini, who turned 20 last month, is the youngest NHL cover athlete in EA Sports' history. Then again, the first-overall pick in 2024 doesn't play like someone who has only two years of NHL experience.

In just his second season, Celebrini established himself as one of the NHL's top superstars by scoring 45 goals and finishing with 56 more points than San Jose's next-highest scorer.

At the Olympics, where Celebrini was the youngest Canadian player, he earned a spot on a top line next to Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, where he scored five goals and 10 points in six games, winning a silver medal.

"Take his age out of it," said Team Canada coach Jon Cooper. "He's a helluva hockey player. He may be 19 years old — like, his physical body is — but his acumen for the game is not. He's wise beyond his years."

"He's definitely way more mature than his age would say," said Team Canada center Nick Suzuki. "He plays with a ton of detail for his age, and it's been impressive to see."

As for what the future holds, being on the cover is a good sign of things to come.

Two years after Jack Hughes was on the cover, the Team USA forward scored the gold medal-winning goal at the Olympics. Maybe something similar is in store for Celebrini, who will look to get the Sharks into the playoffs next season after barely missing out on a spot this year. 

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