San Jose Sharks star rookie Macklin Celebrini confirmed will go to Sweden and play for Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Championship.
This will be the first time the Sharks’ rookie has played for his country since the 2024 IIHF World Juniors.
Celebrini says he will play for Canada at the World Championship. #SJSharks
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) April 17, 2025
During his exit interview, the center told reporters that playing for his country at the Worlds will be an audition for a spot on the 2026 Olympic roster.
“With the Olympics coming up, it’s going to be a high-level tournament with a lot of NHL talent,” Celebrini said. “A lot of other countries [are] bringing the best players that they are going to need for the Olympics. I can’t wait. It’s going to be some good hockey, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Celebrini will face William Eklund and Alexander Wennberg during the tournament group stage, as both Sharks forwards will play for the host nation of Sweden.
“We’re going to have them in the group stage, so it’s going to be fun to play against him,” Wennberg said. “I’ve always played with him, [so I’m] excited to see how big of a pain he is on the ice.”
Will Smith non-committal on playing for Team USA at Worlds
Fellow San Jose Sharks rookie Will Smith would not confirm nor deny that he will play for head coach Ryan Warsofsky at the 2025 World Championship.
When asked if he was excited to play against Celebrini potentially, Smith didn’t deny how fun that could be.
“Yeah, I am,” Smith said with a big smile, excited about potentially playing against the other San Jose Sharks cornerstone.
Just want to clarify: there is still no confirmation that Will Smith is going to worlds or not. Celebrini is going and will play for Canada. He never really confirmed if Smith was going. Working to confirm but don’t commit to Smith going just yet. It certainly sounds like it, but…
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) April 17, 2025
While it sounds like Smith is headed to Worlds, nothing has been officially confirmed. Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky will be available to the media for his exit interview on Friday and could confirm if Smith is on his roster.
The tournament will take place from May 9-25 and will be primarily hosted in Stockholm, Sweden.
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