Is Macklin Celebrini already better than Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard?

Before the season, it would have been an asinine question to ask if Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks was better than Connor Bedard. 

Fast forward two months and that question has some legitimacy to it.

It’s still incredibly early in the 2024 first-overall pick’s career, but through his first 22 career games, Celebrini has 11 goals and 22 points while logging almost 20 minutes per night. For comparison, through Bedard’s first 22 games, he notched 11 goals and 19 points while also averaging similar minutes.

As of now, Celebrini has the decided edge in his two-way ability. Celebrini is winning 49.4% of his draws whereas Bedard only won 38.9% of his through the entirety of last season.

Furthermore, Celebrini only has a -4 plus/minus rating; Bedard was a -14 at the same point last season. 

Now that Celebrini is putting up better offensive and defensive stats than Bedard, can we definitively say he will have a better career?

Celebrini’s ability to step into a first-line center role and produce at an elite level at both ends of the ice is near unheard of. But his linemates and teammates need to be taken into account.

Celebrini is currently playing with Tyler Toffoli, an established scorer and Cup champ. Toffoli isn’t having an amazing season right now, but he is a better, more consistent player than any linemate Bedard has spent substantial time with. 

Furthermore, the Sharks forward group also consists of Mikael Granlund, who is having a career year; solid young point producers such as Fabian Zetterlund and William Eklund; and former fourth-overall pick Will Smith who demands defenders’ attention with his elite skill. 

Yes, Celebrini is the focal point of the Sharks’ offense, but he has a much better supporting cast than Bedard, who hasn’t been able to build chemistry with stable linemates all season and has
seven more points than his closest teammate.

Bedard’s lack of offensive support enables opposing teams to match up their top shutdown units against him on a nightly basis.

When teams are facing the Blackhawks, they know that if they can stifle Bedard, there is a good chance they can coast to an easy win. Celebrini still faces stiff opposition every game, but not to the same extent as Bedard.

Moreover, teams already have a year of tape on Bedard. They know his tendencies, where he likes to shoot from, how he likes to get open, how to throw him off his game. Celebrini just hasn’t been in the NHL long enough for teams to know exactly how to shut him down. 

Finally, Celebrini doesn’t have as much pressure on him as Bedard does. Of course, any first-overall pick feels the weight of expectations, but Bedard came into the league under rare circumstances. 

He had been labeled a generational talent since he was 14. He was expected to be the savior of an Original Six franchise in a major market. The Blackhawks were coming off a recent dynasty. He was somehow supposed to fill both Patrick Kane’s and Jonathan Toews’ shoes without a co-star. 

Celebrini was the unanimous best player in his draft class, but the pressure of leading a California team that has never won a championship is nowhere close to what Bedard has faced. 

So, will Celebrini have a better career than Bedard?

It’s too early to tell.

Celebrini has been phenomenal to start his career, and Sharks fans should be excited about his potential. But he has also benefited from better circumstances than Bedard.

Let’s give this conversation a couple of years, and hopefully, we’ll have another Crosby/Ovechkin debate on our hands.