Macklin Celebrini signed a $94 million contract and became the NHL's highest-paid player
The San Jose Sharks have secured the long-term future of their biggest star. On July 29, 2026, the club announced that it had agreed with Macklin Celebrini on a five-year contract extension worth a total of 94 million US dollars, or an average of 18.8 million dollars per season. According to the NHL's official announcement, that amount will make the 20-year-old Canadian center the league's highest-paid player by average annual contract value. Celebrini will first complete the final season of his entry-level contract, meaning the new arrangement will begin in the 2027/28 season and keep him with the Sharks through the end of the 2031/32 season. It is San Jose's most important business move in the current phase of the team's rebuild and a clear signal that the club intends to build its future around the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Celebrini earned the record-breaking contract after an exceptional second NHL season. In all 82 games of the 2025/26 regular season, he scored 45 goals and recorded 70 assists, for a total of 115 points. In doing so, he broke Joe Thornton's club record of 114 points, set in the 2006/07 season, establishing the new mark with a goal in the final regular-season game against the Winnipeg Jets. According to NHL data, Celebrini finished the season fourth in the league in points, tied for fourth in goals and seventh in assists. His progression from a promising rookie to one of the most productive forwards in world hockey took place in only two years, which is why the contract represents both a reward for what he has achieved and an investment in the period during which he is expected to reach his full playing prime.
A record by annual value, but not by total amount
The average annual value of 18.8 million dollars surpassed the previous NHL record held by Leo Carlsson. At the beginning of July 2026, the Anaheim Ducks matched the Philadelphia Flyers' offer and retained the Swedish center on a five-year contract worth 90 million dollars, with an average of 18 million per season. Celebrini's contract therefore raised the annual record by another 800,000 dollars. However, it is important to distinguish average annual value from the total value of a contract. The largest total amount still belongs to Kirill Kaprizov, who signed an eight-year contract worth 136 million dollars with the Minnesota Wild, carrying an annual average of 17 million.
That difference results from the length of the contracts and the way NHL teams plan their spending under salary-cap rules. Celebrini and his representatives agreed to five years, even though the rules in effect at the time of signing allowed for a longer extension. Sharks general manager Mike Grier told the NHL that the club would have been happy to secure the player for the maximum term, but considered the five-year compromise favorable for both sides. San Jose gains the certainty that the team's central figure will remain under contract throughout a key phase of the sporting project, while Celebrini retains the opportunity to negotiate his next contract when he is 25 years old and when the league's financial environment could be even more favorable for leading players.
The NHL and the NHL Players' Association had previously announced strong growth in the salary-cap ceiling: from 95.5 million dollars in the 2025/26 season to 104 million in the 2026/27 season, while a level of 113.5 million dollars is projected for 2027/28, the first year of Celebrini's new contract. This means that the record nominal amount must also be viewed in the context of revenue growth and the room clubs have for contracts. After the agreement was announced, Grier emphasized that Celebrini could have demanded an even larger share of the club's cap, but agreed to a structure that leaves the Sharks with a degree of flexibility to build a competitive team. In a professional league with a strict salary cap, that flexibility will be crucial, because the contract of one superstar cannot be separated from the cost of the rest of the roster.
The season in which Thornton's record was broken
Celebrini's 115 points carry special significance in the history of a franchise that has played in the NHL since the 1991/92 season. Joe Thornton set the previous record during a period when the Sharks were among the leading teams in the Western Conference, and his 114 points remained out of reach for almost two decades. Celebrini passed the mark at the age of 19, in the final game of the season, when he scored a goal and added two assists against Winnipeg. The NHL noted that it was his 18th game of the season with at least three points, tying Thornton for another club record. San Jose won the game 6-1, and his teammates symbolically poured water over the young center on the bench after the historic point.
The numbers show how heavily the Sharks' offense depended on his production. According to the club's official data, Celebrini was directly involved in 46.2 percent of all San Jose goals, the second-highest share in the NHL that season and the best result by a teenager in league history. He scored 37 goals at even strength, the third-highest total in the league, while his 82 points in those situations also placed him among the leaders. The Sharks had a record of 26 wins, six losses and two overtime losses in games in which Celebrini scored a goal. When he recorded at least one point, the team won 37 of 60 games, which clearly demonstrates the connection between his individual form and the club's results.
The improvement from his debut season was exceptionally large. As a rookie in the 2024/25 season, Celebrini recorded 63 points in 70 games, with 25 goals and 38 assists, and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the league's best rookie. He was also selected to the NHL All-Rookie Team. In the very next season, he increased his production by 52 points, played the entire schedule and assumed the role of the dominant center on the first line. After two NHL seasons, he has 178 points, consisting of 70 goals and 108 assists in 152 games, which explains why the Sharks opened negotiations about his long-term future as soon as he became eligible for an extension under the rules.
From first overall draft pick to global hockey star
San Jose selected Celebrini first overall in the NHL Draft on June 28, 2024, in Las Vegas. It was the first number-one selection in Sharks history and one of the key moments in the club's rebuild after several seasons of declining results. He arrived in the NHL after one year at Boston University, where, as a 17-year-old, he won the Hobey Baker Award, presented to the best player in American college hockey. The NHL stated at the time that he had become the youngest recipient of the honor. His combination of speed, puck control, vision and responsibility in both directions made him an almost unanimous candidate to be selected first overall.
His development has not been limited to the club level. Celebrini won a silver medal with Canada at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, scoring five goals and finishing the tournament with ten points in six games. According to the NHL, he was the leading goal scorer of the Olympic tournament and ranked second in total points, behind Connor McDavid. At the 2026 World Championship, he captained Canada and recorded 14 points in ten games. The International Ice Hockey Federation subsequently named him the best male player of the 2025/26 season in a vote involving approximately 200 media representatives.
In the NHL, he was a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, presented by members of the Players' Association to the most outstanding player of the regular season. The other finalists were Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid, with McDavid winning the award after a 138-point season. The mere fact that his peers placed him among the three candidates at only 19 years of age further confirmed his status. In a short period, Celebrini progressed from the greatest talent of his generation to a player compared with the league's established stars. The new contract financially formalizes that transition and places him at the top of the market before he has even played his third NHL season.
The Sharks accelerate their rebuild, but a playoff berth is not yet secured
Celebrini's individual season was accompanied by visible team progress. San Jose finished the 2025/26 regular season with a 39-35-8 record and 86 points, after recording only 20 wins and 52 points a year earlier, the worst result in the league. According to the Sharks' announcement, the increase of 19 wins and 34 points was the second-largest single-season improvement in club history. Despite this, the team finished four points behind the Los Angeles Kings in the battle for the second Western Conference wild-card playoff spot. The Sharks therefore missed the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season, meaning the record investment in their biggest star still needs to be validated by results in games for the Stanley Cup.
During the summer, the club continued adding more experienced players around its young core. According to the NHL, San Jose acquired forward Mason Marchment, defenseman Jacob Trouba and goaltender Eric Comrie, while defenseman Darnell Nurse arrived in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers. Alongside Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund and other young players have important roles in the future, and the Sharks were also joined by Ivar Stenberg, the second overall pick in the 2026 Draft. Grier stated that the goal is to build a team capable of regularly competing for the Stanley Cup, and described Celebrini's contract as the foundation of that strategy.
A complex task remains ahead of the club. The high salary of its leading star requires effective management of the other contracts, successful development of young players and precise additions on the market. San Jose must improve its roster depth, defensive stability and performance in games in which Celebrini does not record points. At the same time, his presence makes it easier to attract veterans and gives the club a clear sporting identity. The Sharks are no longer building only around the promise of future talent, but around a player who has already proved that he can rank among the league's leading scorers.
Five years that will determine the franchise's direction
From Celebrini's perspective, the contract provides financial security without completely surrendering future negotiating power. The five-year term means that most of the contract will cover his early prime years, and after it expires he will again be able to assess the team's development, salary-cap growth and his own market value. Grier openly acknowledged that this balance was part of the negotiations: the Sharks needed long-term confirmation that the player was ready to lead the project, while Celebrini's side wanted to retain room for a new decision in the middle of his career. Such contracts are becoming increasingly common among young stars who do not want to lock in their value for the maximum term too early.
In an official statement, Celebrini said that he believes in the direction the club is taking and that the ultimate goal is to bring the Stanley Cup to San Jose. Grier described him as the central figure in a group of talented players that the organization wants to retain and continue building around. For Sharks fans, that is the most important message after a long period without playoff hockey: the biggest young star has not only accepted a record salary, but has also publicly linked his future to the club's ambition. Nevertheless, the contract alone will not turn San Jose into a championship contender. Its true value will be measured by management's ability to build a sufficiently strong and balanced team around Celebrini over the next several seasons.
When the extension takes effect in the 2027/28 season, Celebrini will carry the largest annual contract value in the NHL onto the ice, along with even greater responsibility. The records he set in his second season show that he is ready for a leading role, but the next stage of his career will be determined by team success. San Jose has made the most expensive and clearest move of its rebuild, and the five-year period of the new contract will become the framework within which the entire Sharks project will be evaluated. For a franchise that has not played in the playoffs since 2019, securing Celebrini represents a necessary step; returning to contention for the Stanley Cup will be the far more demanding continuation of that work.
Sources:
- San Jose Sharks – official contract announcement, statements from Macklin Celebrini and Mike Grier, and data from the 2025/26 season (link)
- NHL – details of the five-year contract, comparison with Leo Carlsson, career statistics and the context of the Sharks' rebuild (link)
- NHL – report on breaking Joe Thornton's club record in the final game of the season (link)
- NHL – announcement of Celebrini's selection as IIHF Player of the Year and his results at the 2026 Olympic Games and World Championship (link)
- NHL and NHLPA – official salary-cap ceiling data for the period through the 2027/28 season (link)
- Anaheim Ducks – confirmation of Leo Carlsson's five-year contract with an average annual value of 18 million dollars (link)
- Minnesota Wild – official announcement of Kirill Kaprizov's eight-year contract worth 136 million dollars (link)