Sharks' 2024 No.1 Pick Macklin Celebrini Injured vs Utah

The NHL's preseason schedule is debatable as they come and recently, there's been a slew of ugly injuries to some star players. Last night in San Jose was no different as first overall pick Macklin Celebrini was on a partial breakaway and wound up getting tripped up and sent flying into the corner boards.

Macklin Celebrini left tonight's game with a lower body injury after crashing into the boards in the second period pic.twitter.com/AtcncWFhBB

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) October 2, 2024

Celebrini, who doesn't turn 19 until June, is looking to get off to a strong start to his rookie season. The Sharks are handing over the keys and are projected to be giving Celebrini, along with fellow rookie Will Smith, top-six minutes and room to flourish.

At this point there's been no word on the extent of Celebrini's injury or how long he's expected to be out of the lineup. The Sharks lost to Utah 3-1 on Tuesday night. Kailer Yamamoto scored twice, and Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton each had two assists for Utah (4-1-0). Utah's Connor Ingram made 19 saves.

When Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky was asked about Celebrini's status, the bench boss admitted the word hadn't quite trickled down yet, "I haven't even talked to the trainers yet. Honestly, they just said he wasn't coming back. That's really all I got."

Photo credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images