The San Jose Sharks could be looking to name the 13th captain in franchise history at some point in the near future, and according to the players, it seems they have someone in mind. Macklin Celebrini is a superstar in every sense of the word and it seems clear that one day he’ll be named captain of the Sharks. Many of his teammates feel that he’s ready for the honor now, even though he’s only 19 years old. “I don't know what else he could possibly do,” veteran forward Ryan Reaves said on Saturday. “His leadership on the ice, I've seen it before. I saw it in a guy named Sidney Crosby.” “Obviously, he leads by example,” Tyler Toffoli added. “When you work as hard as he does, with how intense [he is] and everything that he brings, I definitely don't see a reason why not.” The aforementioned Crosby and Connor McDavid were both tasked with the captaincy as teenagers. McDavid currently holds the record [https://www.nhl.com/news/connor-mcdavid-named-oilers-captain-282401230]for being the youngest captain in NHL history, at 19 years and 266 days old. Celebrini won’t break that record, nor will he wear a “C” on his jersey before his 20th birthday, as he’ll hit that milestone on June 13, but it’s certainly not unheard of for a player of his caliber to be given control of the team’s leadership group. Celebrini has already recorded the best offensive season by a Shark in franchise history, breaking Joe Thornton’s nearly two-decade-old record for points in a season by putting up 115 points in his sophomore season. He finished fourth in the league in points as well, behind only McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Nikita Kucherov. He’s done essentially everything that could be asked of him to this point in his career, so logically, a captaincy would be the next step. Celebrini’s name being tied to the captain vacancy isn’t new either. During training camp, the Sharks’ young star danced around veteran defenseman Nick Leddy dropping him to the ice. "I don't know if you saw, but he danced me and I fell,” Leddy said back in September. “It goes back to his work ethic. He's one of the first guys out there, one of the last guys off and that's a sign of a true leader. I've seen many captains do that throughout the years.” While Leddy didn’t directly state that Celebrini is ready for the captaincy, he acknowledged Celebrini’s captain-like qualities. “That would mean a lot to me,” Celebrini said when asked about the idea of being named captain. “Especially if it's coming from my teammates, if they're looking at me like that and they believe in me, that means a lot.” While it's uncertain whether or not the Sharks will name a captain at all for the 2026-27 season, if they decide to make that call, it seems there's a logical fit.
