Meet the NHL's Newest Dynamic Duo

[0:00]The NHL has always been a league of dynamic duos, from Lemieux and Jagr, to Crosby and Malkin, and currently McDavid and Dryl to name a few. Most successful teams have at least one duo that either has great chemistry and dominates on a line together, or even provides an electric one-two punch where both players can drive a line on their own. The San Jose Sharks, a young team with lots of talented players, have a pair that I think has the potential to be the next great dynamic duo and terrorize the rest of the league for years to come. This duo is of course the first overall pick from the 2024 draft, Macklin Celebrini, and the fourth overall pick from 2023, Will Smith. Both of these young studs are in their second National Hockey League season. Celebrini, who lit it up as a rookie scoring 25 goals and 63 points in 70 games, Which was good enough for him to finish third in the Coder Trophy race for rookie of the year. And Smith was no slouch himself, scoring 18 goals and 45 points in 74 games, finishing sixth himself in the Coder race. These guys have picked up right where they left off last year, both being in the top three on their team in points. And Celebrini, especially, who's currently top five among all NHL skaters in points through the first month of the season, and he's just 19 years old. Celebrini and Smith are one of the main bright spots on a Sharks team that will likely miss the playoffs for a seventh straight season. Macklin was the undisputed top prospect heading into the 2024 draft, but after all the hype around Conor Bedard the previous season, I'd argue Celebrini fell a little bit under the radar. Even while dominating college hockey as a freshman at Boston University, where he scored a ridiculous 32 goals and 64 points in just 38 games. He then showed pretty early on that he was ready to play at the NHL level, and in his 70 games as a rookie, he put up 63 points, which led all Sharks and was tied for second in the league among all rookies. Now, Will Smith, on the other hand, was drafted the year before Celebrini, right behind a pretty strong big three in Bedard, Carlson, and Fantilli. Smith went number four to San Jose and then spent the next year lighting it up for Boston College, where he had an extremely impressive 25 goals and 71 points in his 41 games. Smith played on a stacked BC team that also had star prospects Cutter Gauthier, Ryan Leonard, and Gabe Perot. He not only led BC in points, but he also led the nation in scoring as a freshman. Will's confidence and ice time grew as the season went on last year, and after putting up 13 points in his first 32 games of the season, He put up 32 points in his final 42 games. As I mentioned earlier, both of these guys are off to hot starts this season and are two future superstars on a San Jose team that is very close to getting out of their rebuild. The other cool thing about these guys is that they're pretty much the same age, came into the NHL at the same time, and appear to be really good buddies off the ice as well, which is never a bad thing in a sport where you're almost always around your teammates, especially when you first get into the league. Celebrini has all the tools to be a true superstar in this league. He has a rocket of a shot and usually isn't afraid to rip it. He's also got fantastic skating ability and speed, and he also has very high hockey IQ and has a well-rounded defensive game that will only get better as he gets more experience. Smith is also well on his way to becoming a star. He's a little more of a playmaker compared to Celebrini, but he also has a sneaky really good shot himself. He's been an electric point producer at every level of hockey and his chemistry with Macklin will only grow as they continue to play together. While it's looking like the Sharks will be a bottom five team in the league for yet another season, they have some extremely exciting young players on their roster and in their system. While Celebrini and Smith lead the way, they also have the second overall pick from 2025 Michael Mesa, who's getting his first taste of NHL action. 23-year-old William Eklund, who had a career high 58 points last season, 19-year-old defenseman Sam Dickenson, who was taken 11th overall in 2024, And 23-year-old goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, who was drafted 11th overall in 2020 by Nashville. These prospects, along with the dynamic duo of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, will be a huge part of the new core of players from the San Jose Sharks for the next several years. And if all goes well, who knows, they could help San Jose win the city's first ever championship. Let me know down in the comments what you think of Celebrini and Smith, and please consider liking and subscribing to the channel for more fun hockey videos like this.