Aleksander Barkov explains why he’s so impressed with Macklin Celebrini

SAN JOSE – Count Aleksander Barkov as a member of Macklin Celebrini’s growing fan club.

The Florida Panthers captain and two-time Selke Trophy winner often matched up against the San Jose Sharks 18-year-old rookie on Dec. 7 when the two teams played each other at Amerant Bank Arena. While Celebrini was held off the scoresheet in a 3-1 Sharks loss to the reigning Stanley Cup champions, Barkov admired how mature the teenager’s game was at that point in his career.

“He impressed me a lot. You would not think he’s 18,” said Barkov of Celebrini. “You see the things that all these young guys do nowadays with a lot of skill. But he played the game the right way. He did not cheat the game. He wasn’t trying to cheat for offense or anything like that.”

Celebrini has had his share of highlight-reel plays this season as he entered Saturday’s game against Barkov and the Panthers with 35 points in 39 games. Celebrini’s 15 goals before Saturday’s game led all NHL rookies, even as the Sharks have stumbled to last place in the league’s overall standings.

But Celebrini’s two-way game, along with his hockey IQ and compete level, has also drawn praise this season as he makes his way around the NHL for the first time. Celebrini has been considered a future candidate for the Selke Trophy, which goes to the best defensive forward in the NHL. Barkov won the award in 2021 and after last season.

“I know he’s putting up a lot of points too, but it’s not because of his cheating for offense,” Barkov said of Celebrini. “He’s playing the game right way, and it was tough to play against him for sure, even offensively.”

Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who coached his 1,899th career NHL game on Saturday, also liked how Celebrini played in that game last month, as the teenager finished with five shots on net and two shot blocks in 21:47 of ice time.

“Really impressed with him and his respect for the game,” Maurice said of Celebrini. “All of these skilled guys come in, and they’ve got to put up numbers. There’s pressure to put up numbers, but I just thought that young man played the game the right way. He made the right decisions. He put pucks deep when he was supposed to, but he made plays when he had the chance to make those plays.

“He’s going to be a great player and a great leader in this league.”

Like Celebrini, Barkov entered the NHL at 18 and debuted with the Panthers just a few months after being selected second overall in the 2013 NHL Draft.

Barkov had 34 points in 54 games in his rookie season, averaging just over 17 minutes in ice time per game. While Celebrini is considered one of the leading candidates to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie, Barkov finished 16th in voting for the award after his first season with the Panthers.

“I was very excited my first year, very excited to be here and just to try and make the team and try to help the team to win games and try to be as good as I can,” said Barkov, now 29. “I had really good teammates. They took care of me. They helped me a lot.”

RUTTA OUT: Sharks defenseman Jan Rutta missed his first game of the season Saturday with what coach Ryan Warsofsky said was a nagging lower-body injury. Rutta is considered day-to-day.

In 51 games with the Sharks this season, Rutta, a pending unrestricted free agent and a candidate to be dealt to another team before the March 7 trade deadline, had eight points and averaged close to 17 minutes of ice time per game. Without the right-shot Rutta, the Sharks on Saturday started left shots Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Henry Thrun on their third pair, with Thrun playing on the right side.

The Sharks play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday to end a three-game homestand.

DELLANDREA UPDATE: Forward Ty Dellandrea, who absorbed a high hit from Nashville Predators forward Cole Smith on Thursday, remained off the ice Saturday morning and is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Dellandrea was placed on injured reserve on Friday and will not be able to play again until Feb. 4, when the Sharks host the Montreal Canadiens.

“We’ll see here in the next few days how it progresses,” Warsofsky said of Dellandrea’s injury. “Seems like he’s doing a little bit better. So we’ll take it day by day.”

SEASON DEBUT: Sharks forward Scott Sabourin played his first NHL game in over a year on Saturday as he started on the fourth line with center Barclay Goodrow and fellow winger Walker Duehr.

Sabourin, recalled from the Barracuda on Friday after Dellandrea went on IR, played three games for the Sharks last season from Jan. 9-16. In the second and final year of a two-year, two-way contract he signed with the Sharks in 2023, Sabourin didn’t know if he’d get another shot in the NHL. Now that he’s here, Sabourin, a pending UFA, wants to show that he can be an asset to an organization.

“That’s absolutely the hope,” Sabourin said about earning another contract. “That’s why I show up every day and put my work boots on. I’m going to go out there and show my best stuff, and (the Sharks) will determine the rest.”