Macklin Celebrini was voted the IIHF’s Male Player of the Year for 2025-26 on Thursday, the federation announced, with the San Jose Sharks center finishing first in balloting among roughly 200 media members. Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was second and Carolina’s Sebastian Aho third, with Connor McDavid fourth.
The case, per NHL.com’s summary of the voting, was built on the international season: Celebrini led the 2026 Winter Olympics with five goals and finished second in the tournament with 10 points in six games, earning All-Star Team honors while Canada took silver. Three months later he captained Canada for the first time at the World Championship and finished second among all scorers there with 14 points in 10 games. That he beat out Hellebuyck — who went 5-0-0 and stopped 41 shots in the gold medal game — says something about how thoroughly the 20-year-old owned the rest of the international calendar.
For San Jose, the award lands as one more data point in a trend line that has been bending upward for two years. Celebrini set a franchise record with 115 points (45 goals, 70 assists) last season, finished fourth in NHL scoring and was a Ted Lindsay Award finalist, and the Sharks improved from 52 standings points in 2024-25 to 86. A rebuild’s inflection point is usually visible only in hindsight; this one has a timestamp. The No. 1 pick from 2024 is no longer the best reason to be patient with San Jose — he is the reason patience is ending, and the front office’s stated priority of extending him and Will Smith, per NHL.com, is the logical next chapter. The prospect pool got its headline draft haul in June; the pipeline’s first finished product is now, formally, the best player in the world outside the NHL awards circuit.
For fantasy purposes there is little left to argue. Celebrini is a top-five dynasty asset coming off a 115-point age-19-to-20 season with 33 power-play points, and the only open question is whether his goal total climbs with a deeper supporting cast. In points leagues and keeper formats he should be priced as a first-rounder for the next decade.
