There won’t be a Stanley Cup parade in San Jose this season. That doesn’t mean San Jose Sharks fans won’t have plenty of reasons to cheer. They might have only won two games, and rank middle of the pack in goals scored at 16th, but it’s a step in the right direction. Last season they were dead last.
2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini has been leading the charge and was recently rewarded with being named the NHL’s first star of the week. Celebrini already has six goals and ten assists for 16 points in the Sharks' first ten games. That includes a stretch of five goals and five assists in five games played last week including the Sharks' east coast road trip.
Let’s compare Celebrini to the first overall pick immediately before him in Connor Bedard with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks last season, like the Sharks this season, aren’t meant to be a playoff team. Yet Bedard’s sophomore season was a lackluster disappointment while Celebrini is fitting the billing of being a burgeoning superstar. What’s the difference?
The easiest answer is roster construction. Last season Bedard’s teammates were a ragtag group of over agers and players who couldn’t match his talent. The Sharks aren’t all an All-Star team, but they don’t lack offensive firepower either. Celebrini centers the top line between veteran perennial thirty-goal scorer Tyler Toffoli and 2023 first round pick Will Smith who is third on the team with eight points.
Bedard was the constant victim of experimental line changes last season under then head coach Luke Richardson. This hampered Bedard’s development, confidence, and chemistry with teammates throughout the frustratingly underperforming season. Interesting last season Daily Faceoff used Celebrini’s roster makeup as a comparison to Bedard’s situation, yet Celebrini seems to be having no problems.
In fact his hot start almost guarantees he’ll beat Bedard’s sophomore performance. Last season Bedard finished with 23 goals and 44 assists for 67 points which was a slight increase from the 64 points he had his rookie season. Through the nine-game mark, where Celebrini was when he was named the league’s top star of the week, Bedard had three goals and six assists for nine points last season.
An immeasurable benefit to Celebrini is that the Sharks are a fun team even if they aren’t a winning team. The goals are coming in bunches. They’ve only scored less than three goals three times this season so at the least the home goal horn is going off. The past week has also featured two high scoring over time road wins so the good vibes are currently through the roof.
Compare that to Bedard last season. As the losing and personal scoring struggles mounted he became an almost meme of a disappointed and frustrated player. That translated into on ice mishaps including penalties for misconduct. All Blackhawks fans wanted was to see the team take a step forward and they couldn’t even do that.
Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz told NHL.com he wouldn’t put a timeline on the rebuild entering this season. That’s polite talk for “don’t expect anything this season either, Chicago fans”. Meanwhile over in San Jose the rebuild looks exciting and slightly ahead of schedule (let’s not pretend the Sharks defense isn’t holding them back). Remember when Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said he’d give up one of his kids just to get a win? As long as Bedard keeps finding the back of the net that seems like a distant memory although it happened just a week ago.