Why Didn’t Celebrini Finish Thursday’s Game?

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — It looks like Macklin Celebrini had a “load management” period.

Celebrini didn’t play the last 7:24 of Thursday’s 8-1 San Jose Sharks loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Was he hurt? Was he benched?

Neither.

“Just managing his minutes. Played a lot of hockey here as of late, no issues whatsoever,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky insisted, after Celebrini participated in full during Friday’s practice. “He’s played a lot of minutes, over 20, I think the last four or five games, a lot of hockey for an 18-year-old. So in that type of game, trying to manage his minutes.”

Celebrini averages 19:35 a night, third among San Jose Sharks forwards behind Mikael Granlund (20:44) and William Eklund (20:20). So the Sharks have been treating the teenager as basically a first-line forward.

Among NHL rookies, Celebrini is the most-used forward, Matvei Michkov (17:10) running second.

Celebrini confirmed Warsofsky’s account, adding that the NHL workload hasn’t been too much for him so far.

“I’ve been feeling good,” he said of playing a lot more than he would over college. “It’s kind of nice getting into a rhythm.”

So nothing to see here! Based on practice, Celebrini looks locked and loaded for Saturday’s game against the Florida Panthers.