The journey of Macklin Celebrini from a top prospect to one of the NHL’s biggest young stars has reached a new level. The San Jose Sharks center will appear as the cover athlete for EA Sports’ NHL 27.

He became the youngest player ever featured on the cover of the popular hockey video game series. EA Sports will feature Celebrini on both the Standard Edition and Deluxe Edition covers after his amazing 2025-26 season.

The 20-year-old finished fourth in NHL scoring with 115 points, including 45 goals. According to Michael Traikos of The Hockey News, he also became the first Sharks player in team history to reach that goal and point total.

Celebrini also impressed on the international stage with Team Canada at the Olympics. Although Canada did not win the gold medal, he played a key role, scoring 5 goals and 10 points in 6 games while skating with stars like Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.

“The cover athlete is always a big deal to the community, and this guy embraces everything NHL 27 is,” NHL 27 senior game design director Mike Inglehart said, according to The Hockey News.

Inglehart praised Celebrini’s skills, speed, and his ability to represent the future of hockey. NHL 27 lead producer Andy Beaudoin also shared positive words about the young star.

“Man, what a talent he is. So fast on the ice.”

Celebrini’s selection is a big moment for EA Sports because the company has chosen one player for all editions of the game for the first time since Cale Makar appeared on the NHL 24 cover.

Celebrini’s Historic Season Continues With Growing Expectations

The NHL 27 cover announcement adds another major achievement to Celebrini’s incredible year. According to Greg Wyshynski from ESPN, the Sharks star broke team records in his second NHL season by scoring 115 points and creating a huge gap between himself and the rest of San Jose’s players.

Macklin Celebrini finished 56 points ahead of the Sharks’ second-highest scorer and became one of the league’s top players. He also became a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award and finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting.

Celebrini’s maturity at such a young age has impressed his teammates and coaches. Team Canada coach Jon Cooper praised his hockey knowledge and said, “Take his age out of it. He’s a helluva hockey player. He may be 19 years old — like, his physical body is — but his acumen for the game is not. He’s wise beyond his years.”

The same ESPN report shared that Celebrini is entering his third NHL season with 178 career points in 152 games. The Sharks have also improved their roster by adding players like Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba, and Michael Kesselring as they look to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

With the NHL 27 cover bringing more attention to him, Celebrini now needs to turn his personal success into team success.

What do you think? Will Macklin Celebrini help the Sharks make the playoffs and become an NHL superstar? Let us know in the comments. 

Read more at the NHL Fan Central.

Written by

Kapil Manghnani

Kapil Manghnani brings over 4.5 years of experience in sports journalism, covering a wide range of sports, including Soccer, NHL, Tennis, Gymnastics, NASCAR, Swimming, and more. He has written for leading sports platforms, producing everything from breaking news and features to in-depth analysis, opinion pieces, long-form stories, and short-form content. Beyond articles, he has also scripted long-form storytelling videos for YouTube channels. His work focuses on delivering well-researched, engaging, and reader-first sports content across multiple formats.

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Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi