© Tom Gulitti

ARLINGTON, Va. — Macklin Celebrini took his first strides on the ice in his San Jose Sharks jersey Wednesday.

Celebrini, the first pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, had worn a Sharks jersey on stage at Sphere in Las Vegas after he was selected June 28.

But Wednesday it was his San Jose jersey, with his name and No. 71 sewn on, along with his full set of hockey pads.

“It was awesome,” the 18-year-old center said. “It’s the first time I’ve been in gear with it, and I’m going to see my name on the back. It’s pretty cool.”

The whole day was special for Celebrini, as well as the 34 other players taking part in the NHLPA Rookie Showcase at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. The players autographed memorabilia, took part in video shoots on the ice for EA Sports and posed for their first official Upper Deck trading cards.

They also got to catch up with old friends, and make some new ones. For Celebrini, it was more time with fellow San Jose forward prospect Will Smith. Last season they were foes, with Celebrini at Boston University and Smith at Boston College.

“I’ve played against [Smith] a bunch through the years, and it’s good to finally be a teammate with him and play with him,” Celebrini said. “He’s a great guy, and getting to know him over the last couple weeks, it’s been awesome.”

© Tom Gulitti

Smith, the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, signed his entry-level contract May 28, and Celebrini signed July 6.

“We were talking about it earlier,” Smith said, “just how crazy it is that we’re on the same team now and just wearing the jerseys for the first time. It’s pretty cool.”

Also wearing new jerseys for the first time were forward Cutter Gauthier and defenseman Olen Zellweger, who were excited to skate for the first time in the new Anaheim Ducks all-orange uniform, with the original duck mask logo.

“I think they’re really nice, actually,” Zellweger said. “First time having the full jersey on, I think it looks really nice. The orange, they pulled it together. The orange helmet is pretty good too, actually.”

Beyond pulling on their NHL jerseys, almost all of the players said posing for their first hockey cards was the highlight moment for them.

“It’s pretty surreal,” Montreal Canadiens defenseman prospect Lane Hutson said. “You never really imagine it until it happens and it’s pretty special.”

Celebrini was an avid collector as a kid, with a special Bobby Orr card among the binders full of them at his parents’ home in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

Now he’ll have the chance to find his own hockey card.

“Growing up, I’ve always collected hockey cards, opened packs,” he said. “I remember trading with my brother [Vancouver Canucks defenseman prospect Aiden Celebrini] and stuff. So to have my own hockey card, it’s going to be really cool.”

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rutger McGroarty said he’s gotten into card collecting heavily the last few years, especially the Upper Deck Young Guns cards. Now rather than players he’s fans of, he’s hoping to find rookie cards of his buddies, among them Gauthier, Hutson, New Jersey Devils defenseman Seamus Casey, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Gavin Brindley and Chicago Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar.

“I’ve played with Seamus, I’ve played with Cutter since I was, like, 10 years old,” McGroarty said. “Same with Gavin Brindley, Frank Nazar. Kind of just seeing us all in our NHL equipment for the first time, it’s a real full-circle moment.

“Hopefully one day it would be really cool if I open one up and maybe even pull a Seamus Casey one. Or I feel like it would be really cool if I pulled my own. But just pulling one of the guys and snapping them a photo of it, that’d be really cool.”

Hutson grew up a Chicago Blackhawks fan, so he searched for the cards of players like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith. But other than finding a Lane Hutson rookie card, he’s got a different target now.

“Macklin,” he said. “He’s a really good friend of mine, amazing player. Pretty funny guy too.”

Celebrini cards should be quite the collectible. As the youngest player in NCAA hockey last season, he was third among all players with 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) in 38 games as a freshman at Boston University and was the youngest ever to win the Hobey Baker Award as the top men’s NCAA ice hockey player.

And unlike last summer, when he was recovering from shoulder surgery, Celebrini was able to get in a full offseason workout program and feels even better with training camp coming up.

“I feel like I got a little bit stronger this offseason, which I didn’t have an opportunity to do the year before,” he said. “I feel like just I’ve worked on all areas, and I feel like I’ve improved.”

He’ll get to showcase those improvements soon, starting with the 2024 Los Angeles Rookie Faceoff Tournament from Sept. 13-16 in El Segundo, California, where he’ll join other Sharks rookies in playing against rookies from the Utah Hockey Club, Seattle Kraken, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings.

And then comes his season debut, against the St. Louis Blues at SAP Center on Oct. 10.

“This whole summer, it’s been all lead-up to the season,” he said. “This stuff is good. But that’s the real fun and that’s what we’re looking forward to. It’s all excitement, and we can’t wait to actually get going here.”

NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report