Sharks Place Top-Pick Macklin Celebrini On IR After NHL Debut

Well, here's a real bummer going into the first Saturday of the NHL season: Sharks No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini has been placed on injured reserve after impressing in his NHL debut earlier this week.

The Sharks announced the news on Saturday ahead of their game against the Anaheim Ducks later in the day.

According to NBC Sports Bay Area, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky revealed that Celebrini is dealing with a lower-body injury.

"Lower body," Warsofsky said. "He’s being evaluated right now."

There's no word on whether this is connected to the lower-body injury that the 18-year-old suffered during the preseason which caused him to miss some time.

This is massively disappointing for not just Sharks fans, but all hockey fans, because Celebrini was impressive in the Sharks' season-opening loss to the St, Louis Blues on Thursday after he scored the team's first goal of the year.

The former Boston University Terrier is also going to be a huge piece of what could prove to be a wild race for the Calder Memorial Trophy against names like Matvei Michkov of the Flyers, Cutter Gauthier of the Ducks, and Logan Stankoven of the Stars.

Obviously, an injury is never helpful in a situation like this, but if you bet on Celebrini to win the Calder, don't freak out, because there is a recent precedent here.

We don't know how long Celebrini will be out, but last year's Calder winner, Chicago's Connor Bedard, missed a big chunk of last season with a broken jaw and still went on to win the award.

Of course, Bedard had a fantastic year when he was in the lineup but also helped his case that the field wasn't as jam-packed with rookie talent as it is this year.

Back in 2015-16, we saw Connor McDavid's Calder Trophy campaign derailed by a broken collar bone that sidelined him for 37 games. He finished third in the voting behind then-Blackhawk Artemi Panarin and then-Flyer Shayne Gostisbehere.

Hopefully, Celebrini is back in playing shape soon, because you hate to see a promising rookie season slowed down by injury, especially after just one game.