Celebrini Says He'll Give Sharks 'A Hometown Discount' On His Extension

After the $18M AAV contract that Leo Carlsson received after the Anaheim Ducks matched the Philadelphia Flyers' offer sheet, it's been fair to ask what on earth Carlsson's much more accomplished young contemporary Macklin Celebrini will be worth on his next contract. 

ESPN's Greg Wyshynski talked to Celebrini about that, and the young San Jose Sharks superstar said he's willing to go the Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid route and give his team a hometown discount so that they have the flexibility to build a winner around him.

In an interview with @wyshynski, Macklin Celebrini says he’s open to following Sid and MacKinnon’s lead by taking less to help the Sharks build a winner 👀

“Yeah, 100%... You want to put your team in the best spot possible where you give a team the ability to make moves… pic.twitter.com/Q4JUbmLokE

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) July 16, 2026

Yeah, 100%... You want to put your team in the best spot possible where you give a team the ability to make moves necessary to win.

The 20-year-old is coming off a massive breakout season in which he exploded for 45 goals, 70 assists and 115 points, nearly doubling his stats from his rookie year, and blowing out of the water the numbers that Carlsson posted this past year. It also far surpassed anything that Connor Bedard has been able to do thus far, and he just signed a five-year, $15 million AAV extension. 

What does Celebrini say about a 'hometown discount'?

But Celebrini, the first-overall pick of the Sharks in 2024, is willing to take a "hometown discount" of some sort. 

"Obviously, guys want to get paid - as they should, because you've got to make a living," Celebrini said. "There are guys that deserve those numbers that are getting them, but of course, you want to put your team in the best spot possible, where you give a team the ability to make moves necessary to win. I think all that goes into the decision." 

Jim Parsons of The Hockey News suggested some possible numbers that we could be looking at:

"Given that many believe he could be the first player to be offered $20 million per season, realistically, that puts a Celebrini extension somewhere in the $17–19 million range. If he’s really out to send a message, he’ll sign at $17.5 million or just shy of $18 million so that the narrative will be, ‘wow, he took less than Carlsson.’"

Celebrini became eligible for an extension as of July 1, but still has another year to go on his entry-level contract.