Macklin Celebrini: “You Can Learn A lot from Watching”
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The hockey world seems to be up in arms about what is happening in Philadelphia with Matvei Michkov and the Flyers. Head coach John Tortorella is making Michkov a healthy scratch as part of his learning and developmental process. But as the first overall pick from the 2024 NHL Draft, Macklin Celebrini said you can learn much from watching the game.

“You can learn a lot from watching the game, & especially sitting in all the meetings and watching our system & knowing what we’re trying to execute, just watching from above and trying to put yourself in those situations, see what you would have done,” San Jose Sharks forward Celebrini said.

And that is all Tortorella is doing with Michkov. He is helping him understand defensively where he needs to be on the ice. As Tortorella said, it is all part of the learning process.

“It’s just part of the process. With young guys, they can watch games, too, as far as development. It’s trying to help him,” Tortorella said when asked why Michkov was a healthy scratch for the first time. 

While Celebrini’s situation was different because he was injured, he still watched the game from above. Then, when he returned to the lineup, he understood where to be on the ice, make some nice passes, and score a couple of goals.

Celebrini shows that the learning process never ends, even when getting to the highest level. He had to translate his game from NCAA College Hockey, and Michkov had to translate his game from the KHL. But unlike Macklin Celebrini, Michkov has to learn the North American game.

But even the San Jose Sharks have a developmental plan for Macklin Celebrini. With the Sharks on a back-to-back, there is a potential the youngster watches and does not play against Michkov, as Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now tweeted.

(Ryan)Warsofsky says the Sharks are still deciding if Celebrini will play tonight.

I asked if Celebrini will have development days like Smith, all Warsofsky would say is “They have different plans, I’ll leave it at that.”

Will Smith has been out of the Sharks lineup, learning the game from above as they bring that youngster along and make the transition to the NHL even better.

Remember, many of these college players have not played more than 45 games in a season. Yes, Celebrini played World Juniors last season, but the NHL schedule is different, with games on back-to-back nights and sometimes three games in four nights, so it makes sense to bring him along.

There have been other examples as well. Just go back to last season in Anaheim, when Ducks GM Pat Verbeek put the 2nd overall pick Leo Carlsson from the 2023 NHL Draft on a game count to begin the season. This was to preserve him for the second half of the season when they would play him more. He did not want him to be worn out early on.

You can see that Verbeek’s decision made Carlsson a better player despite what many thought of it. This is similar to what is happening in Philadelphia with Michkov and now in San Jose with Macklin Celebrini.

We all must remember this is a man’s game, and these guys are still kids coming over here. Yes, Michkov played against men, but not every player is Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid. Look, even Connor Bedard is finding life difficult in the NHL.

These players can learn and translate what they watch from above into practice and their next game.

All these players will be fine, but it is part of the learning process. It never ends in the NHL. Even for the top players in the league.

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