Celebrini’s chemistry with McDavid has allowed the rest of Canada’s lineup to thrive
Things are looking good at the 2026 Winter Olympics for Team Canada, which breezed through the group stage with relatively easy wins over Team Czechia, Team Switzerland and Team France.
Looking to claim a third straight gold medal in a men’s tournament featuring NHL player participation, the Canadians earned the top seed in the knockout round along with a bye to the quarterfinal.
One of the top storylines has been the success of Macklin Celebrini, who has fit in like a glove on Jon Cooper’s first line along with Connor McDavid and Tom Wilson. The 2024 first overall pick has four goals through his first three appearances in the Olympics.
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed how Celebrini being able to fit in on the top line has allowed the rest of the forward group to fall into place.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I know these games don’t mean anything for NHL awards, but on a narrative driven award like the Hart Trophy, you better believe Macklin Celebrini’s going to be right there with Connor McDavid and Nathan McaKinnon the rest of the way. So all of that, saying he had and was having an amazing season, the fact that he’s come to the Olympics and continued this level of play, Hutts, Canada’s taken a group that won the 4 Nations last year and looked really damn good in doing so, and they added another MVP caliber player to this forward group. That impact and how important he’s been to this group, it now can’t be understated.
Carter Hutton: His USHL debut in 2022, he scored in his first game. In his NCAA debut, scored in his first game. In the NHL, and now in the Olympics. Like in those, and each time you’re taking a step up, everybody’s a little bit better. You have to make adjustments, you have to get there. I think it just goes to show you his mental capacity to be in moments and not be overwhelmed is so impressive for a younger player. The future looks bright. There’s a plethora of younger Canadian players that are gonna fill these spots as we move forward in these international events, but Macklin Celebrini is the name that’s gonna stay around in Hockey Canada for a long time.
Tyler Yaremchuk: There was a couple of moments where he’s doing the beaver taps and calling for pucks from Connor McDavid. Like, this is not a guy who’s just all shy sitting there going, ‘I don’t wanna disrupt Connor McDavid.’ He’s taken that spot on the top line, and he’s absolutely grabbed it and looked like he belonged. What that also does is it shuffles a bunch of other things throughout this Canadian lineup… The way it shuffles everything else out, we’re not screwing around like, ‘Can Hagel fit with McDavid?. Are we putting Marner up there?’ Like no, everything slots perfectly because this top line has been as advertised.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…