Alexis Lafrenière, Macklin Celebrini, and the Diverging Paths of Two No. 1 Picks
SAN JOSE, Calif. - There’s no secret society for former No. 1 overall NHL draft picks - no annual summit where they trade war stories or share what it’s like carrying the weight of a franchise before they can legally rent a car. So, no, Alexis Lafrenière doesn’t really know Macklin Celebrini.
“Not really, no,” Lafrenière said casually before the Rangers’ late game against the Sharks on Friday night. “I mean, I watch him play.
Great player, [but] I don't really know him. I never really talked to him.”
And yet, their careers - and how differently they’ve unfolded - are becoming impossible to ignore.
Celebrini, still just 19, is already the face of the Sharks. The 2024 No. 1 overall pick has taken the NHL by storm, leading San Jose in scoring with 24 goals and 72 points heading into Friday’s game.
That’s more than double the production of the team’s second-leading scorer, Alexander Wennberg. He’s also set to represent Canada at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
For a teenager, it’s not just impressive - it’s borderline historic.
Lafrenière, now 24 and the top pick in 2020, hasn’t quite enjoyed that meteoric rise. With 10 goals and 28 points through 51 games, he’s on pace for a 16-goal, 45-point season - numbers that aren’t bad for a second-line winger on a team stuck in the middle of the pack. But they’re also a far cry from the “generational talent” label he carried out of junior hockey.
When Lafrenière came out of Rimouski - the same Quebec junior program that produced Sidney Crosby - the expectations were sky-high. He was the second player after Crosby to win both the CHL Player of the Year and QMJHL MVP twice. The comparisons to No. 87 were inevitable, and maybe unfair.
Now, ironically, it’s Celebrini drawing those Crosby comps - and from someone who would know. Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan, who coached Crosby in Pittsburgh, didn’t hold back when asked about the Sharks’ young star.
“What he's accomplished at his age is impressive,” Sullivan said. “I made the comment [Thursday] that he reminds me of a young Sidney Crosby, and it's the ultimate compliment.
And I don't throw that compliment lightly. That's a bold statement that I made, but I'm being honest.”
It’s hard not to see the contrast. Celebrini has arrived and is already elevating a rebuilding Sharks team. Lafrenière, meanwhile, is still trying to find that next gear - the one that would justify the hype that’s followed him since he was a teenager.
To his credit, Lafrenière isn’t getting caught up in comparisons - not to Celebrini, not to Connor Bedard in Chicago, not to Jack Hughes in New Jersey, and not to Matthew Schaefer with the Islanders.
“Not really,” he said when asked if he measures himself against those peers. “They’ve been unreal.
So I still have to work on my game. Get better.”
That mindset might come in handy over the next few weeks, because things could get complicated.
The Rangers are in the middle of what GM Chris Drury recently called a “retool,” and with the March 6 trade deadline looming, speculation is swirling. Lafrenière’s name is out there - and not just in whispers. Despite being in the first year of a seven-year deal worth $7.45 million annually, he’s been floated as a potential trade piece.
On paper, it seems counterintuitive. Why would a team trying to get younger and more dynamic move on from a 24-year-old with over 100 career goals and nearly perfect attendance over six NHL seasons (431 out of a possible 434 games)? But the Rangers have made bold moves before - including parting ways with former No. 2 pick Kaapo Kakko - and if the right return is out there, they may not hesitate.
There’s also the possibility that a change of scenery could unlock something in Lafrenière that hasn’t quite clicked in New York.
Still, the player himself isn’t sweating the rumors. At least, that’s what he says.
“I mean, you never know what can happen, really,” he said. “But I'm here, and I like being here, and we have a great group.
So, yeah, I don't worry about it. I’m just trying to play and whatever happens, happens.”
And if he stays? The final 30 games after Friday will be a critical stretch - not just for the Rangers, but for Lafrenière’s own development.
“Just a little more consistency,” he said when asked what he wants to focus on. “I've had some good games and some bad games.
So I think you’ve got to try to stack more good games in a row, play a little bit more consistent. That'd be my bigger thing.”
It’s not a flashy answer, but it’s an honest one - and maybe a sign that Lafrenière still believes he can get to where he was supposed to be. The road hasn’t been as smooth or as quick as it was for Celebrini, but the story isn’t finished yet.
And in hockey - especially for a former No. 1 pick - the second act can be just as important as the first.