Macklin Celebrini just made the Blackhawks-Sharks series a lot more interesting

Yesterday, we learned Macklin Celebrini became the latest No. 1 overall pick to sign his entry-level contract shortly after the NHL Draft. This means, barring injury, we’ll see Celebrini face off against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks a few times this season as they attempt to lead their teams back to respectability. 

And best yet, they’re going to have a lot of help. We already know about the free agent frenzy the Blackhawks went on just one week ago, and the Sharks didn’t look half-bad themselves. Tyler Toffoli and Alex Wennberg are new faces alongside Celebrini, and we also need to remember that Will Smith should be in San Jose this season at some point, too. 

There’s also William Eklund, Marco Ferraro, Colin Graf, Henry Thrun, and Fabian Zetterlund, all of whom are making up a young core of players who should be every bit as good as the Blackhawks in time. But thanks to Celebrini acting as the centerpiece here, he will upgrade the entire team and treat fans to some jaw-dropping entertainment, much in the same way Bedard did this past season in the Windy City. 

Blackhawks and Sharks could have some memorable matchups this season

The only difference between the situation Celebrini finds himself in vs. what Bedard dealt with last season is that he has a better overall team in his age-18 year. Sure, the Blackhawks made more than enough moves for us to believe they can string together serviceable play this year, but Bedard had little to work with in Year 1 of what should be quite the leap in what will be his sophomore season. 

Now the question is, will this be the next great inter-divisional rivalry in the NHL, one reminiscent of what we’d seen in the past with some previous No. 1 overall picks like Alexander Ovechkin (2004) and Sidney Crosby (2005)? Maybe, but if that’s the case, Blackhawks fans would rather see Bedard’s success in Chicago mirror what Crosby had in Pittsburgh. 

If that ends up being the case, then fans will say that Bedard’s career wasn’t just like Crosby’s, but also reminiscent of what Patrick Kane brought the Hawks in the 2010s, and even before he started winning championships. 

Even if making the playoffs is still a longshot for both teams this season, although not impossible, we will still see some foreshadowing of what’s to come in what should be some memorable matchups between Bedard and Celebrini. This season will be Round 1, but we may need to wait a couple of decades before we ultimately find out who wins this series outright.