Macklin Celebrini is now the highest-paid player in NHL history, and he is still two years away from turning 22. The San Jose Sharks signed their franchise centerpiece to a five-year, $94 million contract extension on Wednesday, carrying a $18.8 million average annual value that tops every contract in league history by cap hit, including the $18 million AAV Leo Carlsson landed from the Anaheim Ducks earlier this summer.
Celebrini, the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, has wasted no time establishing himself as one of the sport’s most dominant young players. After a strong rookie campaign in 2024-25 that saw him post 63 points in 70 games, the 20-year-old exploded in his second season, racking up 45 goals and 70 assists for 115 points across 82 games — a new single-season franchise record for the Sharks, surpassing a mark set by Joe Thornton. He also became the sixth teenager in NHL history to reach 100 points in a season, a list that includes names like Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby.
Richest Deal in League History
Celebrini’s new extension runs through the 2031-32 season, but it won’t actually begin until 2027-28. That’s because the star center still has one year remaining on his three-year, entry-level contract, which carries a modest cap hit of just $975,000 for the 2026-27 season. Once the extension kicks in, Celebrini will earn nearly 20 times that figure annually, though general manager Mike Grier and owner Hasso Plattner reportedly structured the deal below the maximum 20% of the salary cap Celebrini could have commanded.
The extension also stands as the largest contract in franchise history, eclipsing the eight-year, $92 million deal Erik Karlsson signed with San Jose back in 2019. For a Sharks organization that has spent the past few seasons in a full rebuild, locking up its 20-year-old superstar through his prime years — he’ll hit unrestricted free agency at just 26 — is as significant a signal of direction as any move the front office could make.
Building Around a Generational Talent
San Jose has been aggressive this offseason in surrounding Celebrini with more proven talent, adding veterans like defensemen Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse along with forward Mason Marchment. The message is clear: the Sharks believe their rebuild is entering a new phase, one built around accelerating Celebrini’s timeline toward contention rather than simply accumulating future assets. Fans tracking San Jose’s odds to end their playoff drought can check the latest Stanley Cup markets as the roster continues to take shape.
Celebrini’s early production has already drawn comparisons to some of the league’s most decorated scorers — he briefly led the NHL in scoring just 15 games into the 2025-26 season, a feat only Gretzky and Steve Yzerman had previously accomplished that quickly. Through his first two NHL seasons, he has piled up 178 points (70 goals, 108 assists) in 152 career games, numbers that put him firmly in the conversation as one of the most productive teenage scorers the sport has ever seen.
What Comes Next
For now, Celebrini will play out the final year of his entry-level deal in 2026-27 before the record-setting extension officially begins. That gives San Jose one more season of contract-friendly production from its franchise player while the front office continues assembling a roster capable of competing. If Celebrini’s trajectory holds anywhere close to its current pace, the Sharks may end up looking like they got a bargain even at $18.8 million a year — a number that, for the moment, stands alone at the top of the NHL’s pay scale.
The deal also reshapes how rival general managers approach negotiations with their own young stars entering extension windows, effectively resetting the market for elite, entry-level-to-veteran transitions across the league. Bettors watching San Jose’s win totals and division odds shift in response can track the latest NHL odds as the new season approaches.
