Lucas Vanroboys

While Sharks center Macklin Celebrini didn’t take home a gold medal in international action this year, he’s taking home an end-of-year international award.  The IIHF announced that Celebrini has been voted the IIHF’s Male Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season.  Carolina’s Sebastian Aho (Finland) finished second in voting while Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck (USA) was third.  On top of finishing fourth in NHL scoring last season with 115 points, Celebrini had 10 points in six games at the Olympics, adding 14 more in 10 appearances at the Worlds, finishing second in scoring in both events.  That earned him a spot on nearly 41% of the ballots which was enough to take home the award.

More from San Jose:

• Assistant GM Joe Will met with reporters today to discuss the team’s farm system. He noted to reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link) that he expects Nolan Allan to make a push for a roster spot with the Sharks in the fall.  Acquired midseason as part of the Laurent Brossoit trade, the 23-year-old will be waiver-eligible for the first time in 2026-27 which could help his chances of breaking camp with the big club.  Allan has 43 career NHL contests under his belt with Chicago and had 14 points in 35 games with the Barracuda after being acquired.  He signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract last month.
• Speaking of the Barracuda, Will indicated (via Sharks Hockey Digest’s Max Miller) that a pair of veterans aren’t expected to return next season in Colin White and Oliver Wahlstrom. White spent the last two seasons in San Jose, playing primarily in the minors.  The 29-year-old is coming off a strong showing, notching 48 points in 46 games but appears to be moving on.  As for Wahlstrom, he notched 24 goals and 18 assists in 62 games last season, his first in the organization after coming over from Boston.  The 2018 first-rounder had to settle for an AHL contract for 2025-26 and could be facing that same fate again heading into next season.
• Lastly, the Barracuda will be losing another netminder as AHL Hartford announced the signing of Gabriel Carriere. The 25-year-old played in 31 games for the Barracuda last season, posting a 2.76 GAA and a .896 SV%.  Meanwhile, Hartford also revealed that they’ve inked forward Lucas Vanroboys for next season.  The 26-year-old had seven points in 33 AHL contests last season.