Two of hockey’s brightest young names spent part of the offseason in the same training environment, and Gavin McKenna came away with a clear impression of Macklin Celebrini.
Speaking with David Alter of The Hockey News in Chicago on Wednesday, the Leafs forward said he had been training in Vancouver with several NHL players, including the San Jose Sharks star. McKenna, preparing for his first NHL season, said the setup around Celebrini pushed him in all the right ways.
“I was training with Mac and doing what he was doing, and he was a pretty intense guy when it comes to his off-ice and on-ice stuff,” McKenna said. “So, to kind of be in that environment and just get in a routine, it felt good. I had a lot of fun, and I feel like I got better.”
McKenna, the 2026 No. 1 overall pick, said Celebrini doesn’t shy away from a heavy workload.
“My trainers probably won’t like to hear this, but there was a week where we were on the ice for like 17 hours…Mac is crazy. But every skate out there, you’re getting better and it’s a competitive group, so I had a lot of fun with it.”
The two also spent time together away from the rink, and McKenna said that mattered just as much as the work.
“I think we just try to be normal people with each other. Sometimes, when you’re grinding and stuff, you kind of want to step away from the game and just be normal people and just talk…He was awesome to be around.
I think I learned a lot from how hard he works and to where I kind of got to get. I think it’s all been good for me.”
McKenna is expected to help drive a retooled Leafs team after Toronto missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year. Celebrini, meanwhile, is already building a case as one of the game’s biggest young stars. The North Vancouver native helped Canada at the Winter Olympics last February and then added another major milestone on Wednesday, signing a five-year contract extension with an $18.8 million AAV that makes him the highest-paid player in the NHL.
In Other News...
John Klingbergs Next Move Could Sting Sharks Fans
John Klingbergs run in San Jose appears to have put him back on the board as a legitimate free-agent option, and that alone makes this a notable summer development for Sharks fans. After a solid season in teal, the veteran defenseman is now free to choose his next stop, with his market shaped by both his production and the kind of role he still wants at this stage of his career.
The tricky part for San Jose is that the interest around Klingberg does not sound like it will be limited to one type of team. Clubs with different timelines and different cap situations are all in the mix, which means the Sharks could be watching a player they just had settle into a new home move on again before long. What he values most in his next contract will go a long way toward determining whether San Jose gets another year of stability from him or has to start over on the blue line. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Just Made Macklin Celebrini Their Franchise Cornerstone
Macklin Celebrinis new five-year extension gives the Sharks exactly what every rebuilding team wants most: a clear face of the franchise, and one they can build around for the immediate future. At $94 million, the deal also resets the market in a way that reflects just how quickly Celebrini has become central to San Joses plans, putting him atop the NHLs salary ladder on an annual basis.
The shorter term is what makes the contract especially interesting for the Sharks. Five years is a meaningful commitment, but it also leaves the door open to another major negotiation before too long, which means San Jose gets the comfort of locking in its cornerstone without fully answering the longer-range question of how the relationship will look when this deal runs out. [Read more 🡒]