It didn’t take long for Macklin Celebrini or Matvei Michkov to make an impact in NHL jerseys.
Celebrini, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, scored on a shot from the slot against the Utah Hockey Club on Friday in the San Jose Sharks‘ first game at the Rookie Showcase in El Segundo, Calif.
A few hours later, Michkov also scored in his first game as a Philadelphia Flyer at the Rookie Series against the New York Rangers.
On the power play, Celebrini took a pass from Luca Cagnoni and showed patience, faking a slapper before whipping a shot home to tie the game at 2-2.
“It felt really good,” Celebrini said after the Sharks’ 3-2 win, per The Hockey News. “Changing before the game and then warm-ups, putting the jersey on, it kind of came real, and it was a good feeling,” Celebrini said postgame. “I’ve played there a bunch. It’s like anything, the more time you spend there, the more comfortable you are there. For some reason (that’s) where I always get put.”
Michkov, the seventh-overall pick in the 2023 draft, also scored on the power play, jamming in a puck while positioned behind the goal line.
The Flyers lost the game 4-3 in a shootout, but the Russian-born Michkov earned positive reviews from those in attendance.
Celebrini, a native of North Vancouver, was picked first by the Sharks after winning the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in the NCAA in his freshman season at Boston University.
Celebrini also had four goals and four assists in eight games for Canada at last year’s world junior hockey championship.
“I think it’s good for him. It’s confidence building,” Sharks rookie team coach John McCarthy said about his goal Friday. “I thought just the way that he played the game, the puck is on his stick almost every time he’s on the ice. He controls the game when he’s on the ice, and it’s good to see him get the goal.”