Sharks star Macklin Celebrini just made an impressive bit of NHL and video game history

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San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini had whatever the opposite of a sophomore slump is. After dropping 63 points in his rookie season, the 20-year-old threw down a wildly impressive 115 points (46G, 70A).

It was an impressive tally that helped him earn a spot on the Team Canada roster at the 2026 Olympics, where the team took silver — people forget the Canadians lost to Team USA (alright, no one forgets; I just like to bring it up) — and that has earned Celebrini another honor.

EA Sports has revealed that he'll grace the cover of "NHL 27," officially making him the youngest player ever to get the nod.

THE TALLEST PLAYER EVER SELECTED IN THE NHL BLEW MINDS IN HIS DEBUT WITH THE SAN JOSE SHARKS

It also makes him the first Shark to appear on a cover since Owen Nolan was on the front of "NHL 2001."

That was so long ago at this point that I think I ordered that game off the back of a cereal box like it was a pair of X-ray specs or sea monkey eggs. Tell that to a kid today and watch all the synapses in their brains start misfiring because they have no concept of anything other than downloading something from the PlayStation Store.

San Jose Sharks star Macklin Celebrini is the youngest player to ever appear on the cover of a game in EA Sports' "NHL" franchise. (David Gonzales-Imagn Images)

I was surprised to hear that Celebrini was the youngest to appear on a cover, and if you think about it, it's super impressive.

There have been some great players who hit the ground running in the NHL, but were a bit older than Celebrini when they landed a cover. Alex Ovechkin landed "NHL 07" while Connor McDavid was on "NHL 18," for instance. Both were young,