Macklin Celebrini’s status is still up in the air, but the Sharks rookie sounded a lot like someone trending toward a return.
Celebrini will be a game-time decision Saturday when San Jose hosts Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in an early-season Pacific Division matchup. The 30-minute practice he took with the Sharks on Friday - plus extra time on the ice afterward with other skaters and no obvious limitations - suggested he’s moving in the right direction after missing the last two games with a lower-body injury.
He also sat out San Jose’s Tuesday and Wednesday practices before rejoining the team’s morning skate Thursday in St. Louis.
“There’s always a chance,” Celebrini said Friday of playing against the Oilers. “I feel pretty good.”
The injury first kept him out Monday against the Dallas Stars after he felt discomfort during warmups and was scratched late. Dallas rolled to a 5-0 win, while the Sharks answered two days later with a 3-2 overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues.
Celebrini said he had been hopeful heading into that Dallas game, but once he realized he wouldn’t be close to full strength, the choice became pretty straightforward.
“I was optimistic going into warmups, kind of tested it out,” Celebrini said of the Monday game in his first comments since missing the game in Dallas. “If I wasn’t going to be at my best or close to my best, then there was no point to play.”
He didn’t get into when the injury happened, and coach Ryan Warsofsky hasn’t offered any details this week either.
Still, Celebrini made it clear he wanted to suit up.
“If we’re being real, I would have played,” Celebrini said of Monday’s game. “I want to be out there.
It killed me not to. Talking to the trainers, it wasn’t the smart thing to do, and it wasn’t something that I should do.
So, listen to their advice and their expertise, and pull back.
“But trust me, I wanted to be out there more than anyone.”
The Sharks have treated him as day-to-day and have not placed him on injured reserve, a sign he’s at least progressing. Celebrini said the decision on whether he plays Saturday is being made together, with the medical staff, doctors and how he feels all part of the equation.
“It’s all the variables,” Celebrini said. “Talking to, obviously, the doctors and the trainers, and getting their medical expertise and seeing what they say, and, I’m going to be honest, seeing how I feel. It’s just a decision made collectively.”
There’s also a family connection in the mix. Celebrini said his father, Rick Celebrini, the Warriors’ director of sports medicine and performance, remains someone he leans on, while staying in contact with Mike Potenza, the Sharks’ director of high performance.
“(My dad) has a really good relationship with Mike Potenza and our training staff, and obviously I have the most faith in our training staff and our medical guys to give me advice, and I listen to them, and we work really well together,” Celebrini said. “But my dad’s someone I’ve leaned on my whole life to give me advice, and especially in the medical field, to trust him, and he’s kind of specialized in return to play and injury prevention.
“So I’ll talk to him whenever I’m going through something, and that relationship is really good between (Rick Celebrini and Potenza).”
For now, the big question is whether Celebrini gets the chance to line up against McDavid.
“I feel good. It’s definitely great to get back on the ice and start skating again,” Celebrini said. “It’s most fun when you’re with your teammates on the ice, so, try not to miss more time.”
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