{"id":3158,"date":"2026-06-27T17:36:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T17:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158"},"modified":"2026-06-27T17:36:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T17:36:55","slug":"newest-sharks-each-get-unexpected-call-on-draft-night-you-get-a-little-star-struck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158","title":{"rendered":"Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2013 Just a few minutes after he was selected ninth overall by the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the NHL draft, defenseman Keaton Verhoeff got an unexpected call.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3156\">Om Malik, whose blog shaped how Silicon Valley saw itself, dies at 59<\/a><\/p>\n<p>On the other end was Macklin Celebrini, who welcomed Verhoeff to the Sharks organization.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, you get a little star-struck,\u201d Verhoeff said Friday night at KeyBank Center. \u00a0\u201cBeen watching this guy and you see him two years ago in Vegas get drafted (No. 1 overall), and you see him playing the NHL, and you kind of get star struck, but it was cool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Celebrini called all three players the Sharks drafted during Friday\u2019s first round, speaking briefly with winger Ivar Stenberg, taken at No. 2, and defenseman Ryan Lin, selected 21st overall. Celebrini and Lin, both from the Vancouver, British Columbia area, have also skated together a few times this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Celebrini also did the same thing during last year\u2019s draft, calling Michael Misa after the Sharks took him second overall in Los Angeles. Celebrini, Misa, Stenberg, and fellow forwards Will Smith and Igor Chernyshov, defenseman Sam Dickinson, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov figure to form the nucleus of future Sharks teams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s awesome,\u201d Lin said of joining the Sharks. \u201cI think everyone knows how good of a player (Macklin) already is at 19 (now 20), and all their young talent. It\u2019s a really good situation I\u2019m going into. I can\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even though they\u2019re only one or two years younger than Celebrini, most players drafted in 2025 and 2026 are in awe of the Sharks\u2019 top-line center, who finished fourth in the NHL in scoring this past season with 115 points in 82 games.<\/p>\n<p>In January, when he returned to San Jose after competing at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Minnesota, Misa said his Canadian teammates all wanted to know more Celebrini and his habits on and off the ice.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cRecebi uma liga\u00e7\u00e3o do Mack, isso foi muito legal. [\u2026] Ele \u00e9 um fen\u00f4meno. Um dos melhores jogadores do mundo, como eu j\u00e1 disse, ent\u00e3o isso foi muito legal, com certeza.\u201d \u2014 Ryan Lin sobre a liga\u00e7\u00e3o de Mack Celebrini ap\u00f3s o draft.#TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com\/OnLEbWBE8a<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 acervo sj sharks (@acervosharks) June 27, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Why wouldn\u2019t they? Celebrini played on Canada\u2019s top line at the Winter Olympics in Milan with Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon in February, and was a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given to the most outstanding player as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3154\">Sabrina Ionescu celebrated by Bay Area alma mater with ultimate honor<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cSan Jose is starting to become a spot where I think guys really want to go because of guys like Macklin and the talent that they have,\u201d Lin said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be happier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Verhoeff will most likely return to North Dakota for a second season in the NCAA and Lin is headed to the University of Denver, Stenberg, who has no doubt that he\u2019s ready for the NHL, could find himself on Celebrini\u2019s line once the Sharks begin training camp in September.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat would be sick,\u201d Stenberg said. \u201cJust give him the puck, and he will fix it. He\u2019s a special player.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Celebrini was one of five alternate captains the Sharks had this past season, joining defensemen Mario Ferraro and forwards Barclay Goodrow, Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg.<\/p>\n<p>In May, Celebrini captained Canada, a veteran team that included Sidney Crosby, at the World Championship in Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p>As Celebrini gets set to begin his third season in the NHL, and will likely become one of the league\u2019s highest-paid players in 2027 after his entry-level contract expires, becoming the Sharks\u2019 next captain seems like a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnytime you hear from a player like that, with all he\u2019s accomplished and achieved in such a short time in his career,\u201d Verhoeff said Friday. \u201cIt was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Sharks began day two of the NHL draft with three picks, with the first one in the fourth round (127th overall), followed by ones in the sixth (174th), and seventh rounds (201st).<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3152\">Word Game: June 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Macklin Celebrini made surprise call to Ivar Stenberg, Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin on Friday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221; - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221; - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Macklin Celebrini made surprise call to Ivar Stenberg, Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin on Friday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-27T17:36:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221;\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-27T17:36:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158\"},\"wordCount\":722,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/44d294e0e9324330d6acb6b1110c9bbc.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158\",\"name\":\"Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221; - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/44d294e0e9324330d6acb6b1110c9bbc.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-27T17:36:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/44d294e0e9324330d6acb6b1110c9bbc.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/44d294e0e9324330d6acb6b1110c9bbc.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3158#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221; - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221; - Next City Digest","og_description":"Macklin Celebrini made surprise call to Ivar Stenberg, Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin on Friday","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-06-27T17:36:55+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221;","datePublished":"2026-06-27T17:36:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158"},"wordCount":722,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/44d294e0e9324330d6acb6b1110c9bbc.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158","name":"Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221; - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/44d294e0e9324330d6acb6b1110c9bbc.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-27T17:36:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/44d294e0e9324330d6acb6b1110c9bbc.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/44d294e0e9324330d6acb6b1110c9bbc.webp","width":1024,"height":683},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3158#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newest Sharks each get unexpected call on draft night: &#8220;You get a little star-struck&#8221;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}