{"id":5789,"date":"2026-07-29T19:39:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T19:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5789"},"modified":"2026-07-29T19:39:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T19:39:29","slug":"kurtenbach-macklin-celebrini-is-worth-every-record-setting-dollar-to-the-sharks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5789","title":{"rendered":"Kurtenbach: Macklin Celebrini is worth every record-setting dollar to the Sharks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You won\u2019t hear a Bay Area hockey fan say this too often, but thank goodness for Anaheim Ducks.<\/p>\n

Read more Anderson Dam: Water district awards construction contract in $3.2 billion project to rebuild largest dam in Santa Clara County<\/a><\/p>\n

And thank the hockey gods for their general manger, Pat Verbeek, falling asleep at the wheel.<\/p>\n

And thank them, while you\u2019re at it, for Daniel Bri\u00e8re, GM, of the Philadelphia Flyers, for taking advantage of Verbeek\u2019s mistake .<\/p>\n

Because when Philly dropped a jaw-dropping $18 million offer sheet on Ducks forward Leo Carlsson, it didn\u2019t just shock Orange County \u2014 it changed the entire NHL landscape.<\/p>\n

The Flyers\u2019 offer sheet was an act of aggressive, beautiful sports anarchy. And while the Ducks matched the offer, it led us to today in San Jose.<\/p>\n

Because it also set both a market and expedited the timeline for Macklin Celebrini\u2019s contract extension.<\/p>\n

And here we are today: is now locked down for five years at an $18.8 million annual average value. The deal was finalized Wednesday.<\/p>\n

I know I\u2019ve said this before, and I meant it then, too, but there will be no further questions: the Sharks\u2019 rebuild is officially, unequivocally over.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Was there ever any real doubt Celebrini would sign a long-term extension in San Jose? No.<\/p>\n

But Mike Grier was never going to be caught napping with his shoes on.<\/p>\n

He surely has a giant whiteboard in his office, a hyper-organized calendar syncing across his smart devices, and a crystal-clear set of executive priorities.<\/p>\n

Securing Celebrini\u2019s signature on an extension was item 1A \u2014 top of the list \u2014 on his off-season agenda.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

It reached a whole new, never-before-seen level when Bri\u00e8re pulled the pin on a financial grenade.<\/p>\n

The moment Carlsson\u2019s $18 million baseline hit the wire, Grier\u2019s timeline shrank from months to minutes. Any further delays would prove costly.<\/p>\n

Celebrini\u2019s camp didn\u2019t even have to raise their voices \u2014 the market raised the price for them.<\/p>\n

And while Grier probably lost a few nights of sleep watching the economic ceiling go up, up, and even more up, but he didn\u2019t flinch for a second.<\/p>\n

He simply adjusted his spreadsheet, handed over the pen, and secured the franchise before the market went completely insane.<\/p>\n

Read more Pearsall\u2019s continued knee issues lead 49ers\u2019 injury concerns early in training camp<\/a><\/p>\n

Is $18.8 million a year an eye-watering sum for someone who just turned 20? Sure. As it stands, Celebrini is set to be the highest paid player in the NHL once the new deal begins.<\/p>\n

But will this deal look like a historic bargain in two years?<\/p>\n

There is simply no doubt.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like building home in the Bay Area \u2014 the concrete and steel will seriously deplete the bank account long before you shop for furniture.<\/p>\n

But you need the best you can get in a place where earthquakes are the norm.<\/p>\n

The NHL is no different. There\u2019s always seismic activity \u2014 the Carlsson offer sheet just being the latest of league-rattling moves.<\/p>\n

But Celebrini is the best foundation you can buy in this game, and now he\u2019s poured deep into SAP Center for the next decade.<\/p>\n

Because while Carlsson is a wonderful player, Celebrini is a generational, franchise-altering \u2014 league-changing \u2014 superstar.<\/p>\n

With the salary cap skyrocketing and Celebrini\u2019s trajectory heading straight for rarely-explored territory, he could have driven a hard bargain to become the NHL\u2019s first $20 million a year player \u2014 the first $100 million man under the league\u2019s new collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n

Hell, he probably could have asked for even more than that.<\/p>\n

And the Sharks would have been right to give it to him, too.<\/p>\n

When it was all said and done, the Sharks secured the far superior player for less than a million dollars more per year than Anaheim got stuck paying.<\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t just sound executive maneuvering \u2014 it\u2019s daylight robbery with a teal bandana.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t feel bad for the kid.\u00a0Celebrini still secured generational wealth, but the Sharks are the winners in this transaction: they secured another half-decade of guaranteed relevance with 71 here long term.<\/p>\n

They made the move that could \u2014 no, should \u2014 pay off down the line with a parade through downtown San Jose. And they did it in a tidy, no-nonsense fashion. You have to love it.<\/p>\n

It now that parade won\u2019t be happening anytime soon, but we\u2019re far closer to the finish than the start.<\/p>\n

In the end, the Sharks paid the cost to be a serious franchise, while Anaheim paid the tax for thinking they had everything under control.<\/p>\n

And in this rivalry, which is poised to be a fixture of the national TV schedule in the years to come, this offseason could prove a pivot point. Sure, the Ducks are further ahead, but they slipped and the Sharks can take the lead in 2026-27.<\/p>\n

But signing Celebrini was the easy part for San Jose. Tricky, given the landscape, but straightforward.<\/p>\n

Read more Nvidia leases San Jose industrial building for possible AI and advanced tech work<\/a><\/p>\n

Now comes the hard part: building a champion team around him.<\/p>\n

But what has Grier done to make you think he can\u2019t get that job done, too?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Jose Sharks: Building a foundation is expensive, but Macklin Celebrini’s new $94 million contract is poised to be a steal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nKurtenbach: Macklin Celebrini is worth every record-setting dollar to the Sharks - 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=5789\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kurtenbach: Macklin Celebrini is worth every record-setting dollar to the Sharks - 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