Opinion: Celebrini is the NHL 27 cover athlete we deserve
Youngest player ever featured.
When it comes to game changing athletes being front-and-center on a video game cover, there’s likely no better candidate than Macklin Celebrini, at least in the long-running NHL franchise.
The young star was announced as the face of EA Sports NHL 27 on July 14th with the full reveal coming two days later. Celebrini, the San Jose Sharks Player of the Year for the second straight year, has had a banner year. He put up 115 points last season including 45 goals and 70 assists, 4th overall on the season, behind only Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, and former cover athlete Connor McDavid.
Celebrini also led the scoring race with five goals in the 2026 Winter Olympics, with only McDavid putting up more points overall (2 goals, 11 assists), in a performance that earned the Canadian team an Olympic silver medal.
At age 19 he became the youngest captain ever for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship. With an early departure from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Canada’s longtime captain and NHL great, Sidney Crosby, became available to play for the Canadians. The team elected to keep Celebrini in the captain’s role. Canada was eliminated from the tournament by Finland, who went on to win the championship.
Despite the disappointing result at the Olympics, Sidney Crosby heaped praise on the rising star:
“It’s no fluke as to why he’s had the year (that he has had).”
That year will be capped off with appearing on the cover of a game every hockey player picks up. The awe of the decision isn’t lost on him, he told Bleacher Report:
“Playing the game growing up, and always messing around with my buddies, it’s going to be pretty cool to have me on the cover and see me when I’m loading into the game”.
Celebrini was rated as an 88 overall in NHL 26.
