Vancouver-born teenager on pace to shatter unique NHL record
Vancouver is starting to turn into a hockey factory.
Canada’s third-largest city boasts consecutive number-one overall picks in both 2023 and 2024, along with two-time Cup winner Sam Reinhart and 2025 first-round pick Joshua Ravensbergen.
However, it’s 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini who’s on pace to become the best Vancouver-born NHLer of all time. And maybe even the best that the province has ever seen.
The sophomore San Jose Sharks forward has shattered every reasonable expectation of him this season, easily earning a spot on Canada’s Olympic roster.Ā
Not only is he having a season for the ages, but he’s on pace to post the most points in a single-season by any NHLer to ever come from Vancouver.
Celebrini is currently third in NHL scoring with 67 points in 43 games, trailing only Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon. He literally has a point on half of the Sharks’ 134 goals this season.
WHO ELSE BUT MACKLIN CELEBRINI? š¤Æ
Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/3b4Mz4UCkM
— NHL (@NHL) January 8, 2026
Right now, Celebrini is on pace for 46 goals and 128 points. That would, by far, be the most points ever in a single-season by any NHL player born in Vancouver.
Paul Kariya had the best season ever by a Vancouver-born player back in 1995-96, when he scored 50 goals and posted 108 points as a 21-year-old. He eclipsed the 100-point mark once more in his career during the 1998-99 campaign.
Glenn Anderson was the only other Vancouver-born player to surpass 100 points in a season, doing so three times in the 1980s as a member of the Edmonton Oilers.
Even when broadening the horizon to include all B.C.-born NHL players, Celebrini’s pace is ahead of anything that provincial legends like Joe Sakic, Mark Recchi, Cam Neely and Ray Ferraro ever accomplished.
Sakic surpassed the 100-point mark six times throughout his illustrious 20-season career, with his best campaign coming in 1995-96 when he posted 120-points.
Even that insane mark falls below Celebrini’s current pace.
Recchi managed an even better season in 1992-93, registering 123 points for the Philadelphia Flyers. Once again, Celebrini is on pace for more.
The B.C.-born player with the most points in a single season is Steve Yzerman, who recorded 155 points back in 1988-89. He had five other 100-point seasons, but the only other campaign that was better than Celebrini’s pace was the 1992-93 season, where he registered 137 points.
For a while, it seemed unlikely that B.C. would ever produce a player as productive as Yzerman. Then again, Celebrini doesn’t even turn 20 until June.