CALGARY, Alberta — Macklin Celebrini, the 19-year-old San Jose Sharks star, is going to the Winter Olympics.
Celebrini was among 19 players named to Canada’s 25-player men’s hockey roster Wednesday ahead of the NHL’s return to the Olympics in February in Milan, Italy.
Celebrini, who is third in the league in scoring behind fellow Canadians Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, is one of six additions to the group that won the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament last February. Other newcomers at forward: Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens, Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders and Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals.
Canada, which plays its first game at the Olympics on Feb. 12 against Czechia, is keeping its 4 Nations defensive corps intact but is switching out two of the three goaltenders. The Capitals’ Logan Thompson and the Los Angeles Kings’ Darcy Kuemper join Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues. They replace Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights and the Canadiens’ Sam Montembeault.
The 4 Nations forwards who didn’t make the Olympic team: Sam Bennett of the Florida Panthers, Travis Konecny of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes.
McDavid, MacKinnon, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point and Panthers winger Sam Reinhart were named to the Olympic roster in June.
They will be joined by returning forwards Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel of the Lightning, Brad Marchand of the Panthers and Mitch Marner and Mark Stone of the Golden Knights. The blue line led by Makar includes Drew Doughty (Kings), Thomas Harley (Dallas Stars), Josh Morrissey (Winnipeg Jets), Colton Parayko (Blues), Travis Sanheim (Flyers), Shea Theodore (Golden Knights) and Devon Toews (Avalanche).
The 38-year-old Crosby and 36-year-old Doughty are the only players with past Olympic experience.
Notable omissions included Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard — currently out with a shoulder injury — Jets forward Mark Scheifele, Capitals defenseman Jacob Chychrun and Islanders rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
Despite missing eight games because of the injury, Bedard leads the Hawks in goals (19), assists (25) and points (44). With 172 career points, he trails only Eddie Olczyk (180) for the most in team history before turning 21 and has the entire season to pass Olczyk before his July 17 birthday.
“Connor (has) played great hockey through the course (of the season), up until the point he got hurt,” Hawks coach Jeff Blashill said Tuesday. “He’s showing that he can be a world-class player.
“They have a lot of great players available to them in Canada, like we do in the U.S. and like a lot of other countries do. I know Connor was focused on his play more than anything else.”
Connor Bedard of Team Canada celebrates after receiving his gold medal at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship on Jan. 5, 2023, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Minas Panagiotakis/TNS)
Bedard played for Team Canada in the 2022 and 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships and was named the tournament’s top forward and most valuable player in 2023 as he led Canada to its second straight gold medal. He broke Team Canada records for points (23) and assists (14) in a single junior tournament.
Bedard is Canada’s career leader in points (36) and goals (17) in World Junior play, recording those numbers over 16 games, including two in the 2021-22 tournament that was canceled and rescheduled for August 2022 because of COVID-19.
The NHL is returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2014. Blashill gushed over the importance of the games to hockey as a whole, despite the scheduling conflicts they produce for the league.
“It’s awesome (that) they get to go to the Olympics,” Blashill said. “You’re allowing guys to play out their dreams and have opportunities to represent their country.
“I’ve had the opportunity to do it as a coach at the World Championships and the World Juniors and it’s an unbelievable thing. To see the best hockey as we saw last year is awesome. It’s great for the sport.”
Chicago Tribune reporter Kalen Lumpkins contributed.