By admin 
The San Jose Sharks knew from the moment they drafted Macklin Celebrini first overall in 2024 that they would one day need to make him the highest-paid player in franchise history.
Read more Luther Burden III Receives Praise During Chicago Bears Training Camp
Now, after a spectacular and record-setting start to his NHL career, Celebrini will soon become the league’s highest-paid player.
The Sharks announced Wednesday that they’ve signed Celebrini to a five-year, $94 million contract, a deal that, once it begins next year, will carry a league-high average annual value of $18.8 million.
Celebrini, who turned 20 in June, has one year remaining on his entry-level contract and was eligible to sign an extension as of July 1.
As the Sharks’ top line center, Celebrini was the NHL’s fourth-leading scorer this past year with 115 points in 82 games, breaking the team’s previous single-season record of 114 points set in 2006-07 by Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Joe Thornton. In his first 152 games over his first two seasons, Celebrini had 178 points, fifth-most in NHL history for a teenager.
Celebrini’s new deal also buys one year of unrestricted free agency and, for the 2027-28 season, makes up roughly 16.6% of the NHL’s projected salary cap of $113.5 million. The cap is projected to rise to at least $123 million in 2028-29.
Celebrini, per PuckPedia, will be paid a staggering $89.1 million in signing bonuses over the life of the contract, and just $4.9 million in base salary.
“The faith and support that (owner Hasso) Plattner, (general manager) Mike Grier and the entire staff have shown me throughout the past two seasons is proof that we are building something special here,” Celebrini said in a statement. “My teammates and I are ready to take another step toward the ultimate goal of bringing a Stanley Cup to this city and its incredible fans. I can’t wait to get going.”
Celebrini indicated in April that he was open to getting a deal done this summer and wasn’t looking for every dollar available to make it happen.
From Grier’s perspective, it was just a matter of finding a contractual sweet spot — one that would compensate Celebrini fairly while also leaving enough flexibility to build a competitive team around the budding superstar.
Per the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players’ union, Celebrini could have asked for up to 20% of the 2027-28 salary cap of $113.5 million, or $22.7 million per season.
“He would have every right to ask for the full max,” Grier said Wednesday. “But for him to come out right away and kind of tell us that he wanted to make sure we had some flexibility down the road, and he wasn’t looking to take the max amount of money he could, meant a lot to me. He showed his faith and his commitment to the organization, and his wanting to be here and be successful here.”
Celebrini’s new contract, which runs through the 2031-32 season and was hammered out in recent weeks, eclipses the deal center Leo Carlsson received earlier this month after the Anaheim Ducks matched a five-year, $90 million offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Read more Pearsall’s continued knee issues lead 49ers’ injury concerns early in training camp
Following a season in which he spearheaded the Sharks’ 34-point improvement from a last-place finish the year before and nearly led the team to its first playoff appearance since 2019, Celebrini said in April that he was open to signing a contract extension this summer.
“I think it’s just whenever it makes sense for both sides,” Celebrini told ESPN earlier this month regarding a new deal. “I still have a year left. There’s no reason to rush. We’ll kind of see how it goes.
“Obviously, guys want to get paid – as they should, because you’ve got to make a living. There are guys that deserve those numbers that are getting them, but of course, you want to put your team in the best spot possible, where you give a team the ability to make moves necessary to win. I think all that goes into the decision.”
While the new contract can hardly be described as a hometown discount, it does give Grier some wiggle room to lock up other players.
The Sharks, as of now, still have roughly $34 million in cap space available for the 2027-28 season. Grier still needs to get a deal done this summer with restricted free agent forward Collin Graf, who had 46 points in 81 games this season, and could also look to sign Will Smith, who is also eligible for an extension and was the Sharks’ second-leading scorer this past season with 59 points.
Forwards Michael Misa, Igor Chernyshov, and Ivar Stenberg, defenseman Sam Dickinson, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov are also part of the Sharks’ promising 24-and-under core.
“I think we wanted to make sure Mack felt valued here, that he was compensated fairly,” Grier said. “No disrespect to anyone, but in our eyes, he’s the best young player in the league. So we felt like we wanted to pay him an amount commensurate with that.”
Expectations for any No. 1 overall pick are high, but Celebrini has surpassed what optimistic Sharks fans could have hoped for coming out of Boston University, as he was a finalist this season for the Ted Lindsay Award, the MVP award as voted by the NHL Players Association.
In addition to his contributions for the Sharks, Celebrini made a mark on the international stage at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February, winning a silver medal and leading the tournament with five goals as Team Canada’s youngest player, finishing second in points to Canadian teammate and three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner Connor McDavid.
The extension is just the latest indication of Celebrini’s stardom: Just last month, he was named the cover athlete on EA Sports’ NHL 27 and voted the IIHF’s male player of the year.
The next step for Celebrini and the Sharks is to make the playoffs. To that end, Grier made several changes to his roster, recently acquiring defensemen Darnell Nurse and Michael Kesselring via trade and signing defenseman Jacob Trouba and winger Mason Marchment as free agents.
The Sharks’ regular season begins on Oct. 1 at home against the Florida Panthers.
Read more Star power and NFL family ties highlight UC Davis football’s QB competition
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published July 29, 2026 at 8:35 AM.