How Macklin Celebrini, Sharks adjusting to more defensive attention this season

How Macklin Celebrini, Sharks adjusting to more defensive attention this season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.

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There arguably is nobody more important to his team than Macklin Celebrini is to the San Jose Sharks.

Celebrini has 42 more points than his teammate in second, Will Smith (39). To put that in perspective, that’s the largest canyon between the No. 1 and No. 2 scorer on a team, followed by MacKinnon’s 31-point gap over Martin Necas (62) on the Colorado Avalanche and Kucherov’s same differential over Jake Guentzel (60) on the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Safe to say, he’s the focus of any game plan against San Jose.

So, how have the Sharks and Macklin Celebrini adjusted to all the defensive attention this season?

First things first, Celebrini is simply better this year.

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“Bigger, stronger, faster, more experienced,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice summarized in November.

Celebrini and the Sharks coaching staff have also put the franchise center in positions to succeed.

“It’s about putting [him] in situations where we can kind of get away from that,” Warsofsky said of the defensive attention, “get to his skill-set of being able to play when playing in space. That’s usually when players are at their best, is when they have time and space.”

Warsofsky will typically use Celebrini to close periods, basically get him an extra shift at a key time in the game, and not necessarily with his line.

Off the Alex Wennberg (21) draw, Celebrini (71) is “disguised” at wing, surprising Mikael Granlund (64) from behind on the backcheck. That turnover puts the Ducks in scramble mode, and Celebrini exploits that with his speed.

This time, on the fly, Warsofsky puts his best player with third-line center Ty Dellandrea (10) and fourth-line winger Barclay Goodrow (23).

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Dellandrea and Goodrow do the grunt work on the forecheck, Celebrini sets up for a scoring chance, and Goodrow cleans up the garbage.

“We try to do some different things that can get him away from [the defensive attention], whether it’s a matchup-based challenge or flow of the game, momentum in the game situations,” Warsofsky said.

Celebrini has also been given license, both at 5-on-5 and on the power play, to stay on the ice longer, if warranted.

Here’s an example, down 5-1 at the Vegas Golden Knights on Dec. 23, of Celebrini taking a double shift, Sharks lines scrambled after a penalty kill.

That was a 2:11 shift by Celebrini, a sensitive topic, because no player wants to be seen as hogging another player’s ice-time.

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But Celebrini isn’t doing that, he’s been empowered to make decisions on the fly for the betterment of his team.

“He’s earned some rope. He has, by the way he’s played,” Warsofsky said. “I get it, we were down, 2, 3, 4-nothing. He’s taken some long shifts because he wants to fix the problem.”

He added: “There’s a balance to that, for sure, but that’s an extreme competitor that’s frustrated with what’s going on in the hockey game and he wants to make a difference. I’d much rather have that than a guy that’s out there for 15 seconds that doesn’t want to be on the ice because something bad is going to happen.”

“Some of it’s situational. I don’t really want to be out there for too long,” Celebrini said. “Sometimes, you just get caught out there, and it’s better just stay out there and take a [defensive] lane away, instead of screwing over your teammates and putting them in a bad spot.”

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“Of course, we don’t want him out there two minutes, right?” Warsofsky said. “Mack and I talked about it. We had a conversation about that, and he understands that, but I also understand the flipside of it, of that competitiveness. That’s what we want around here.”

Trust me, this isn’t a normal conversation between a second-year player and a head coach (see Matvei Michkov and Rick Tocchet).

Celebrini staying on the ice a little longer often benefits the Sharks, creating mismatches and more offense.

Here’s an example against the Lightning on Jan. 3: Celebrini’s linemates, William Eklund (72) and Igor Chernyshov (92), change, but Celebrini stays on to provide defensive support.

Of course, a dynamic player like Celebrini is more than a defensive security blanket, beating pinching defenseman Erik Cernak (81) to the puck, then evading forechecker Yanni Gourde (37), to spring Pavol Regenda (84) and Jeff Skinner (53) for a 2-on-1.

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At the end of Celebrini’s 1:21 shift, Regenda scores right as the superstar center reaches the bench to change.

Here’s another example at the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 16, Celebrini staying on, as he should, as the first forechecker as Will Smith (2) and Collin Graf (51) change. It’s what Celebrini does from this point on, which is why you want him on the ice as much as possible.

F1 Celebrini harasses Ben Chiarot (8) into a turnover, staying on because the Sharks have full OZ possession. Then, Adam Gaudette (81) and Celebrini work a nifty give-and-go for a Grade-A scoring chance.

Celebrini is commonly double-shifted on the power play, too, playing most or all of the two minutes, and has been part of plenty of second-unit PP goals, Gaudette on Dec. 20 against the Seattle Kraken, Regenda on Jan. 3 against the Lightning, and Gaudette on Jan. 7 against the Los Angeles Kings, for example.

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“That’s all you need. You need the trust of your teammates and your coaches,” Celebrini said. “That’s what’s important, is they trust you to do your job and get that result. As long as they trust me to do that, then that’s a good thing.”

But in the end, Celebrini’s adjustment to all the defensive attention is simply being a better player than he was as a rookie. He wouldn’t be double-shifted or relied upon late in the periods if not for his evolutionary leap.

It’s not just physical, it’s mental growth.

“He plays a more of a give-and-go game at times, reads gaps, reads who’s in front of him. That’s the most that I’ve seen him grow,” Warsofsky said.

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Last season, Celebrini was more of a one-trick pony offensively, a speed demon always trying to push play “vertical”, often as fast as possible.

He’s still that, but he’s also slowed his game down, too, when it matters.

Celebrini does something counterintuitive to his most obvious skill, his skating, dumping it in for Smith to claim. All the Flyers are watching Celebrini, which gives Smith a headstart to jump on the puck. Smith, an offensive prodigy in his own right, makes the most of it.

Chernyshov pushes back the Stars’ defense, allowing Celebrini to get open high. But instead of attacking defenseman Esa Lindell (23) with his customary pace, Celebrini slows it down, seeing a developing 2-on-1 down-low, for Chernyshov and Graf, which his linemates execute flawlessly.

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“It’s kind of part of learning, trying to add parts to my game,” Celebrini said.

The Sharks will also add around Celebrini.

Celebrini, with all the defensive attention that he gets, can become more dangerous when the Sharks put another puck transporter and protector with him. This allows Celebrini to play off the puck more and get open.

Chernyshov has done that for Celebrini when they’ve played together, as has Eklund.

Eklund is probably the Sharks’ second-most effective player, after Celebrini, carrying the puck from blueline to blueline.

Eklund drives the Calgary Flames’ defense back on Nov. 13, absorbing four Flames, which leaves Celebrini open. Gaudette almost puts in the rebound.

Eklund is also crafty with the puck along the wall, attracting Thomas Harley (55) and Colin Blackwell (15), before finding Celebrini and Chernyshov for a down-low 2-on-1.

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There’s another way to think about Celebrini’s dominance this season.

As the Sharks surround him with better players, and the youngsters around him, such as Smith, Eklund, Chernyshov, Graf and Co. get better, Celebrini, carrying a little less of the load, should become even more dominant.

Imagine that.

Right now, defenses can key in against Celebrini, and he’s still beating them consistently. He’s going to overpower them even more, with the help that’s coming.

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