Macklin Celebrini missed the San Jose Sharks’ first five preseason games as he recovered from what the team said was an illness
SAN JOSE – Macklin Celebrini will make his preseason debut on Saturday when the San Jose Sharks face the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City to finish their exhibition schedule.
Celebrini has been unable to play in the Sharks’ first five preseason games as he recovered from what the team described as an illness after he took part in the first day of training camp on Sept. 18. Up until Wednesday of this week, Celebrini had been held out of contact drills.
“I wanted to be with the team the whole time, and for whatever reason, it got taken off course,” Celebrini said Saturday morning before the Sharks traveled to Utah. “But now I’m back and excited to play.”
The Sharks are expected to dress most of their NHL players on Saturday in their final tune-up before the start of the regular season. The Sharks begin the 2025-26 season on Thursday at home against the Golden Knights.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said he’ll monitor Celebrini’s ice time as he plays his first game since May, when he was with Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship in Europe.
“We have a pretty good plan of where we want him to finish at, and we’ll see,” Warsofsky said. “He’s gonna be champing at the bit to probably play 45 minutes, but that will not happen.”
Celebrini, who led the Sharks with 63 points in 70 games last season, will start Saturday’s game on a line with Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev. Celebrini and Smith were on the same line for several games last year, and lined up with Kurashev during a recent practice. The Sharks signed the versatile Kurashev to a one-year, $1.2 million contract on July 1 after he had 130 points in 317 games over five seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Kurashev started camp as a center, but his move to the wing, at least for now, could be an indication that the Sharks are open to keeping center Michael Misa, drafted second overall, for the start of the season.
The Sharks must reduce their roster to 23 players by Monday at 2 p.m. (PT), and one of the bigger questions general manager Mike Grier and the Sharks have is whether to keep Misa and fellow top prospect, defenseman Sam Dickinson, for at least the first part of the NHL season. If they do, more players will likely need to go on waivers, with forwards Pavol Regenda, Egor Afanasyev, and Carl Grundstrom, as well as defenseman Jack Thompson, being among the possibilities.
NHL teams have 24 hours to claim anyone placed on waivers. If that player is not claimed, they can be assigned to the club’s AHL affiliate. At the start of the season, if multiple teams submit a waiver claim for a player, the team that finished lower in the NHL standings the previous season wins the claim.
“We’ll play it out,” Warsofsky said. “We’ve still got a couple more days here to make these decisions. (Grier and I) have talked in depth about a lot of our guys and where we see the roster shaping up, and we’ll continue to work on it. You never want to lose players, but that is the nature of the business.”
Cardwell and Dickinson are among the small group of players who are dressing on back-to-back nights after the Sharks beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 on Friday at T-Mobile Arena. Cardwell had a hat trick, with all of his goals assisted by Regenda, who also assisted on a goal by Afanasyev as the Sharks improved to 2-3-0 this preseason.
Cardwell, who played six games with the Sharks last season and was the Barracuda’s fourth-leading scorer with 48 points in 63 games, has caught Warsofsky’s eye, not only with his scoring touch but with his play away from the puck.
Now entering his third year as a professional, Cardwell, 22, does not need to go on waivers to be sent to the AHL. But even if he does not make the Sharks’ season-opening roster, he could be one of the first players called up if injuries occur.
“He’s had a good camp,” Warsofsky said of Cardwell. “I hink he’s learning when to make plays, when to keep it simple, his puck play, how important it is within his shift. Making mistakes but learning from them quickly is what’s going to help him develop quicker, and he’s done a good job of that.
“He scored three goals (Friday), but he was also really good on the penalty kill. He was using his legs on the forecheck. So if you take the three goals away, he still played really well.”
WAIVER WIRE: The Sharks placed forward Colin White on waivers Saturday. White, 28, was injured during camp and did not skate with the team. He was signed to a one-year, two-way contract in July after he had 25 points in 48 games with the Barracuda last season.
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SAN JOSE – Macklin Celebrini will make his preseason debut on Saturday when the San Jose Sharks face the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City to finish their exhibition schedule.
Celebrini has been unable to play in the Sharks’ first five preseason games as he recovered from what the team described as an illness after he took part in the first day of training camp on Sept. 18. Up until Wednesday of this week, Celebrini had been held out of contact drills.
“I wanted to be with the team the whole time, and for whatever reason, it got taken off course,” Celebrini said Saturday morning before the Sharks traveled to Utah. “But now I’m back and excited to play.”
The Sharks are expected to dress most of their NHL players on Saturday in their final tune-up before the start of the regular season. The Sharks begin the 2025-26 season on Thursday at home against the Golden Knights.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said he’ll monitor Celebrini’s ice time as he plays his first game since May, when he was with Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship in Europe.
“We have a pretty good plan of where we want him to finish at, and we’ll see,” Warsofsky said. “He’s gonna be champing at the bit to probably play 45 minutes, but that will not happen.”
Celebrini, who led the Sharks with 63 points in 70 games last season, will start Saturday’s game on a line with Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev. Celebrini and Smith were on the same line for several games last year, and lined up with Kurashev during a recent practice. The Sharks signed the versatile Kurashev to a one-year, $1.2 million contract on July 1 after he had 130 points in 317 games over five seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Kurashev started camp as a center, but his move to the wing, at least for now, could be an indication that the Sharks are open to keeping center Michael Misa, drafted second overall, for the start of the season.
The Sharks must reduce their roster to 23 players by Monday at 2 p.m. (PT), and one of the bigger questions general manager Mike Grier and the Sharks have is whether to keep Misa and fellow top prospect, defenseman Sam Dickinson, for at least the first part of the NHL season. If they do, more players will likely need to go on waivers, with forwards Pavol Regenda, Egor Afanasyev, and Carl Grundstrom, as well as defenseman Jack Thompson, being among the possibilities.
NHL teams have 24 hours to claim anyone placed on waivers. If that player is not claimed, they can be assigned to the club’s AHL affiliate. At the start of the season, if multiple teams submit a waiver claim for a player, the team that finished lower in the NHL standings the previous season wins the claim.
“We’ll play it out,” Warsofsky said. “We’ve still got a couple more days here to make these decisions. (Grier and I) have talked in depth about a lot of our guys and where we see the roster shaping up, and we’ll continue to work on it. You never want to lose players, but that is the nature of the business.”
Cardwell and Dickinson are among the small group of players who are dressing on back-to-back nights after the Sharks beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 on Friday at T-Mobile Arena. Cardwell had a hat trick, with all of his goals assisted by Regenda, who also assisted on a goal by Afanasyev as the Sharks improved to 2-3-0 this preseason.
Cardwell, who played six games with the Sharks last season and was the Barracuda’s fourth-leading scorer with 48 points in 63 games, has caught Warsofsky’s eye, not only with his scoring touch but with his play away from the puck.
Now entering his third year as a professional, Cardwell, 22, does not need to go on waivers to be sent to the AHL. But even if he does not make the Sharks’ season-opening roster, he could be one of the first players called up if injuries occur.
“He’s had a good camp,” Warsofsky said of Cardwell. “I hink he’s learning when to make plays, when to keep it simple, his puck play, how important it is within his shift. Making mistakes but learning from them quickly is what’s going to help him develop quicker, and he’s done a good job of that.
“He scored three goals (Friday), but he was also really good on the penalty kill. He was using his legs on the forecheck. So if you take the three goals away, he still played really well.”
WAIVER WIRE: The Sharks placed forward Colin White on waivers Saturday. White, 28, was injured during camp and did not skate with the team. He was signed to a one-year, two-way contract in July after he had 25 points in 48 games with the Barracuda last season.
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