At ESPN’s Annual ESPY Awards on Tuesday, San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini was in the running for multiple awards including the Breakout Athletes of the Year, the Best NHL Player, and Sports Trading Card of the Year. He did win one award, but he lost to strong competition in the two other categories
(A probably not very important disclaimer: despite my last name, I have no input on the ESPY Awards.)
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First, starting with the positive, Celebrini’s Rookie Shield card was named the Sports Trading Card of the Year:
Celebrini was also one of many young star athletes in the running for the Breakout Player of the Year Award. While he did come up short on that one, the award is coming to the Bay Area, as Olympic gold medalist, and Bay Area native, Alysa Liu earned the trophy over Celebrini, Drake Maye, and Fernando Mendoza. This year was the second-straight year that a woman took home the award, as rugby player Ilona Maher won the title in 2025
Last but certainly not least, Celebrini was nominated for the ESPY Award for Best NHL Player. Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers ended up taking home the trophy, beating out Celebrini, Nathan MacKinnon, and Nikita Kucherov. Although Celebrini didn’t win on this occasion, it seems safe to say that he’ll earn it at some stage in his career
