Macklin Celebrini's contract is huge win for him, fine for the Sharks, and an eye-opener for the rest of the NHL

Let's talk about the NHL's new highest-paid player (for now).

We already knew NHL salaries were going to start skyrocketing this offseason. The salary cap is rapidly rising, teams have more money to spend, and it’s going to have to go to someone.

Anaheim Ducks forward Leo Carlsson really sent things into overdrive when he signed a five-year, $90 million offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers that was set to make him the highest paid player in the NHL this season.

Carlsson is an objectively outstanding player, still incredibly young and still possessing untapped potential that should make him a top-line center in the league for the next decade. He’s fantastic. Is it an overpay? Probably. Almost certainly. But teams do not really get in trouble with the cap by overpaying their stars, because it is still probably a positive value contract for them.

They get in trouble with the cap when they start overpaying the depth guys and second-and third-tier players on the roster.

Still, Carlsson’s contract was a big moment in the NHL because there was no chance that better players than him weren’t going to look at that and see their own individual price tags go up.

Way up.

That includes San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini, who almost certainly used that dollar amount as the baseline for HIS next contract.

Let’s just say Carlsson’s contract moved him.

To a bigger house.

He signed that next contract on Wednesday morning, signing a five-year, $94 million contract with an average annual salary (and salary cap number) of $18.8 million per season. It would make him the new highest-paid player in hockey (for now) when it kicks in at the start of the 2027-28 season, surpassing the $18 million mark that Carlsson makes.

While Carlsson’s deal might be an overpay to a really good player, Celebrini might legitimately be the best player in the NHL before that contract is even two or three years old. He is probably already one of the five best players in the league right now, and he is still only going to be 20 years old this season.

He’s an elite scorer. He drives possession. He is an advanced defensive player for his age. He is relentless off the puck and has a Crosby-ian work ethic along the walls and in dirty areas. He is everything you want a franchise cornerstone to be.

During his first two years in the league the Sharks have outscored teams 117-112 with him on the ice during 5-on-5 play. When he is off the ice they have been outscored 189-281. Only a small handful of players in the league make a bigger impact, and almost nobody did this past season. During 2025-26 alone, the Sharks outscored teams 73-56 with Celebrini on the ice during 5-on-5 play, and were outscored 90-134 without him. He nearly single-handedly dragged an otherwise awful team into a playoff spot. At the very least, he dragged them into playoff contention. If they ever get back to a serious Stanley Cup contending level, he will be the biggest reason.

So let’s take a look at this contract, what it means for him, what it means for the Sharks, and what it means for the NHL.

1. Let’s start with the impact for Celebrini on a personal level.