Rinkside Roundup: Macklin Celebrini already exceeding all expectations

To call the last week of prospect action eventful would be an understatement.

It was raining goals in the OHL this past weekend, with Blake Montgomery and Beckett Sennecke being the main beneficiaries. On the WHL side, Tanner Howe has quickly adjusted to his new environment in Calgary. Overseas, Ivar Stenberg has been picking up steam.

Above all, however, Macklin Celebrini’s rapid ascension to NHL stardom has been the key storyline of the past week. The San Jose Sharks’ recent first-overall pick kicks us off in this week’s Rinkside Roundup.

Macklin Celebrini, C, San Jose Sharks

Season stats: 8G, 6A, 14PTS 

Last Week Stats: 4G, 3A, 7PTS

Heading into his first post-draft campaign, it was already clear that Macklin Celebrini was ready for top-six NHL minutes.

A mature, detailed and skillful centre, Celebrini’s polished game led him to run away with the Hobey Baker as a freshman, as well as the first-overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft. No one else even came close to dethroning him from that spot, try as they did.

Despite all of that, no one could’ve expected what we’ve seen from Celebrini since the start of the season, and especially over the past week.

The NHL’s youngest player currently leads the entire league in puck battles won per game (via SportLogiq).  Over the last stretch, he has been stellar in all three zones as well as impactful and engaged off-puck, while still flashing the on-puck skill that made him the undisputed most coveted talent of the 2024 class. Celebrini recently exceeded 25 minutes of ice time against the Ottawa Senators, and has yet to play less than 15 minutes for the Sharks this year.

Celebrini is making the San Jose Sharks a must-watch team this year – if for nothing else, just for his shifts. If the centre continues to play with this level of detail and consistency, it won’t matter how many points Matvei Michkov racks up, the Calder trophy will be Celebrini’s. 

Tanner Howe, LW/C, Calgary Hitmen (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Season stats: 9G, 6A, 15PTS 

Last Week Stats: 3G, 3A, 6PTS

After captaining the struggling Regina Pats in his draft year and earning 77 points in 68 WHL games, Tanner Howe’s first post-draft campaign wasn’t off to the greatest start. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ 46th-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft only managed seven points in 10 games to start the year – however, since his trade to the Calgary Hitmen, Howe has reconnected with his scoring touch.

With eight points in four games since being dealt to Calgary, Howe is benefitting from the move and playing with top-end teammates. He is starting to develop some chemistry with the likes of Carson Wetsch and Ben Kindel, especially on the power play.

Still relatively the same player he was in his draft year, Howe’s non-stop competitiveness and physical skills continue to drive his game, while his awareness, patience and vision allow him to find openings to exploit, whether off the pass, handle or shot. His progression will be reliant upon those puck skills continuing to improve, which would make more plays available to him. With a camp invite to Canada’s World Juniors roster, the winger could potentially land a bottom-six checking role on the team out of camp – he certainly has all the intangibles to impress Dave Cameron and the rest of Canada’s staff.

Blake Montgomery, LW, London Knights (Ottawa Senators)

Season stats: 5G, 5A, 10PTS

Last Week Stats: 4G, 4A, 8PTS

The NCAA ruling on CHL player eligibility has already led to some interesting transfers, and Blake Montgomery has been a strong beneficiary of it so far. The 6-foot-4 winger is up to a point per game so far with the London Knights after transferring over from the USHL, but 80% of those points were amassed in the last three games, earning him the title of OHL player of the week.

It took some time for Montgomery to find his footing. There were some promising early signs, however, that an offensive explosion was on the horizon, as Elite Prospects Director of North American Scouting Mitch Brown highlighted in his November 16th game report on Montgomery – one game before he registered his first OHL point: “Montgomery is finding success early in his OHL career. You can basically watch him learn on the job. Early in this game, he was powering into coverage, running out space, and chipping the puck deep. But he started figuring out space and gaps throughout the game.”

Montgomery’s strong skating has somewhat improved, and he has started incorporating more and more translatable rush patterns at even strength as he got more comfortable with the OHL’s pace and structure. He crosses opponents’ hands, shrinks their range with timely protective stick checks, and cuts back against pressure. So far, the Ottawa Senators’ 117th-overall pick in 2024 has already started showing signs of growth, and the fit in London has been seamless. He’ll be a phenomenal top-six OHL power forward before long.

Beckett Sennecke, RW, Oshawa Generals (Anaheim Ducks)

Season stats: 19, 17A, 36PTS

Last Week Stats: 4G, 2A, 6PTS

Whereas Montgomery put up three steady multi-point performances to earn his spot in this Roundup, Beckett Sennecke earned his by putting all of his chips on Kingston.

The Anaheim Ducks’ third-overall pick in 2024 scored four goals and added two assists in an 8-5 win against the Frontenacs, showcasing his hand-eye coordination on the first, and following it up with three gorgeous mid-range snipes on the Oshawa Generals’ dominant man advantage.

Sennecke is truly finding his role as a shooter, without necessarily missing out on passing opportunities. He has found a healthy balance between taking control and setting up his teammates that allows him to maximize his puck touches – especially on the power play. He constantly rotates in the offensive zone, pops into open pockets, and when the shooting lane is open, he digs in his deep bag of various releases and picks the right one for the occasion.

Mechanically, Sennecke’s shot still requires a ton of forward motion and upper-body torque rather than sourcing its power in Sennecke’s weight transfer and downforce, but the output speaks for itself – Sennecke can rip the living daylights out of that puck, and seems to take great pleasure in doing so.

Ivar Stenberg, LW/RW, Frölunda HC J20 (2026 NHL Draft)

Season stats: 20, 23A, 43PTS

Last Week Stats: 3G, 5A, 8PTS

One of the top names ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft class, Ivar Stenberg has been ragdolling the J20 Nationell with impunity. The 5-foot-11 winger has been scoring at close to a goal-per-game pace, including a hat-trick in a 6-0 thrashing of Västerås on Saturday – despite his skillset lending itself more towards playmaking. 

Stenberg’s game is a tactical and dextrous one. The 17-year-old cycles high, identifies opportunities for offensive-zone blueline steals, and then attacks downhill with savvy dekes and quick setup moves. Off the cycle, he dictates the game’s tempo, bends opposing defenders to his will, and finds seams effortlessly. His vision allows him to bypass the physical scenarios he’ll inevitably face at higher levels, but he has also shown the occasional ability to absorb a hit, shield pucks with his edges, and make a play inside contact.

It’s early, but Stenberg is looking unstoppable so far this season, and seems to be setting himself up for an explosive draft year. If the skill he has shown so far against J20 competition carries at higher levels next year (or who knows – maybe even this season), Stenberg could make himself a must-consider prospect for the top five in 2026.

[Read More: How 2026 Draft Prospect Ivar Stenberg has dominated play in Sweden.]