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When Macklin Celebrini took the ice in Milan as the youngest NHL player in the Olympics and youngest-ever on a Team Canada roster, the moment didn’t just belong to his home country. It belonged, in a tangible way, to the San Jose Sharks and their fans.
On Sunday, the 19-year-old from Vancouver will face the United States in the gold medal game. The Olympics stir patriotism, but members of the Sharks organization are still eager to see the face of their franchise thrive.
“[The] athletic spectacle of it all is drawing people in and he’s becoming a must-watch,” Sharks chief marketing officer Doug Bentz said. “Even if someone is rooting for the United States to win, I think they’re also rooting for Macklin to continue to do these special things.”
That tension — patriotism versus regional pride — is complex, and has even compelled some Sharks fans to pledge their allegiance to Team Canada.
“I love America, but at the same time, Macklin Celebrini is going to change things in the Bay Area,” KNBR host Derek Papa said. “He’s going to be the Steph Curry of hockey. He’s going to be the guy we all root for. So I’m rooting for him.”
Through five Olympic appearances, Celebrini has totaled 10 points — thriving next to household names such as Connor McDavid, Nathan McKinnon, and Sidney Crosby on the hardest roster in the world to crack. In Friday’s dramatic come-from-behind semifinal win, Celebrini led the Canadians in ice time, playing nearly 26 minutes. He ripped a team-high eight shots on goal and assisted on McKinnon’s game-winner.
“During the first half of this season, we all knew the game was changed,” Bentz said. “Now, with the Olympics, it just confirms our belief that he can be a global superstar.”
Global stage, local impact
Since landing in Milan two weeks ago, Celebrini’s fame has exploded. His Instagram following has grown by 40% and on NHL.com (opens in new tab), he has the most visited player profile during the Olympic break. But it’s not just buzz for the teenage phenom — it’s revenue and brand growth for his crew back in San Jose.
“When he grows his own personal presence that clearly has a positive impact on us,” Bentz said. “Hockey culture is very team-oriented. Star culture can be frowned upon. But it’s hard to ignore what he’s doing on a global stage.”
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Bentz, who has marketed the Sharks for more than two decades, explained that the franchise’s strategy in the last five years has evolved to focus on growing beyond the Bay Area, which is both a saturated sports ecosystem and a non-traditional hockey market. And Celebrini — with impossible-to-ignore highlights pouring in daily — is the golden ticket.
In Celebrini’s rookie season, the Sharks finished at the bottom of the Western Conference, yet still set a franchise record for single-game ticket sales. This season, as Celebrini has amassed 81 points, the fourth most in the league, they’re on track to surpass that mark — by nearly $3 million.
In previous scheduled breaks during NHL seasons, the Sharks’ social engagement has dipped between 30 to 40%. This year, with NHL players back in the Olympic Games for the first time since 2014, and Celebrini on Canada’s top line, it’s a different story: impressions and engagement have surged 75% year over year.
The Sharks’ merchandise revenue during this Olympic window is up 88% compared with the same period last year. Celebrini’s Team Canada jersey sold out online in under an hour. Sharks individual game tickets sales during the NHL pause are up 47% and season ticket memberships have surged more than 400% compared with this point last season.
“Every time he’s on the ice, it’s kind of like back in the day with Barry Bonds on the Giants. Every time he was at bat, everyone stopped what they’re doing and watched. It’s the same thing with Macklin,” long-time season-ticket holder Jeff Kwong said.
The Bay Area knows this phenomenon: in a market defined by stars, transcendent players reset expectations. Curry, Bonds, Jerry Rice, and Joe Montana can relate. The Sharks once relied on franchise icons Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Pavelski to generate interest, but they haven’t necessarily seen the kind of singular gravitational force that can tilt a team’s trajectory.
Celebrini is different.
Kwong remembers watching the Sharks in their inaugural season in 1991 played at the Cow Palace. He has seen the eras come and go, but he’s never seen anyone quite like this.
“When we drafted [Celebrini], I thought maybe in five or 10 years he’d be pretty good,” Kwong said. “But he’s a once-in-a-lifetime, generational type of talent … when you have one of the best players in the world on your team, it is just so exciting to be a fan.”
While Sunday’s game may divide hockey fans in the Bay, there is one thing they can agree on — watching Celebrini bring a Stanley Cup back to San Jose would be sweeter than seeing him wear a gold medal around his neck.
