Celebrini gets the C at 20, and the Sharks finally got one right

Look, the Sharks have missed the playoffs seven years running, so when they make a call nobody can argue with, you write it down. Macklin Celebrini is the captain, at 20 years old. Grade: A. It would be an A-plus, but the job sat empty for seventeen months while everybody pretended there was a legitimate debate.

He's the 11th captain in franchise history and the youngest by four years, since Patrick Marleau got the C at 24, back in 2004. Celebrini got his on Friday from Joe Thornton, in a video the team put on X, with the room and GM Mike Grier standing around him.

Getting the letter handed over by Jumbo Joe is the hockey version of a knighthood. The only difference is the queen never had a beard you could lose a puck in.

The case took four seconds

He put up 115 points last season, 45 goals and 70 assists, in all 82 games. That broke Thornton's franchise record of 114, and he did it as a teenager. The only teenagers who scored more were Gretzky and Crosby, and that's the whole list.

He also wore the C for Canada at the Worlds this spring. So this isn't really a promotion, it's the organization catching up with the paperwork.

Grier called it "a well-deserved honor." Mike, buddy, he's been running your team since he was 18. You're just making it official.

They paid him like one, too

San Jose gave him five years at $94 million this summer, an $18.8 million average annual value. When you pay a guy that much, you might as well sew something on the sweater. Otherwise it's just a very expensive sweater.

And here's my favorite part. The night before the coronation, the Sharks beat Anaheim 10-0 in a preseason game and the captain-to-be played 10:45. Ten goals, and the franchise barely needed him. That's either smart load management or the Ducks. I'm going with the Ducks.

The kids are running the West

Celebrini is now the youngest captain in the league, a year younger than Chicago's Connor Bedard. The Western Conference is officially being run by guys who can't legally rent a car.

Bruins tax: In Boston you wait until you're 30 and the last captain retires, and even then Chara drives in to check your papers.

Yes, the Sharks still have to make the playoffs. The letter doesn't come with a second-pair defenseman. They finished four points out of a playoff spot last year, and that gap belongs to the front office, not the kid.

My call: San Jose ends the drought this season, and the captain finishes top three in scoring. If they miss, I'm blaming the Ducks again.

I said what I said.