Did Celebrini Actually Take a Discount — or Just Reset the Market?

The San Jose Sharks have locked up their franchise superstar. Macklin Celebrini has signed on for five more years, which is fantastic news for the franchise on the rise. The one slight concern for Sharks fans is the dollar value. Celebrini signed for a record-setting $18.8 million AAV, which will make him the highest-paid player in the entire league when the contract begins.

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Many Sharks fans were hoping for a discount, especially after seeing Connor Bedard get a five-year deal worth $15 million AAV. Leo Carlsson signing an $18 million AAV offer sheet certainly didn’t help, but offer sheets vs extensions are different animals. The offer sheet is supposed to be a large overpay, especially if the team really wants a chance to get the player in question.

Is Celebrini Overpaid?

The deal on the surface is high. Whenever you become the highest-paid player in a sport, that comes with some scrutiny. However, saying “overpaid” and “Celebrini” in the same sentence is hard to fathom. The kid is a bona fide superstar, putting up 115 points in his “sophomore slump” season. He is 20 years old and finished fourth in the league in scoring.

With the rising cap coming next season and seasons moving forward, $18.8 million AAV won’t stay as the highest cap hit in the game for long. As this deal ages, it will be a fantastic deal overall for the Sharks as a franchise and help push them to success. Anytime a team locks up their superstar, it is a good day for that team, no matter the cost.

Did Celebrini Take a Discount?

On the other hand, the question many Sharks and NHL fans are wondering is: Did Celebrini take a discount? With his new salary at the top of the totem pole, it is hard to see a discount on the number. Many young superstars coming up are changing the market, with Bedard and Carlsson’s deals, along with rumors swirling of other young players like Adam Fantilli wanting extremely high numbers.

Could Celebrini have asked for $20 million AAV and gotten it? Very likely. However, in the grand scheme of discounts, this doesn’t seem to apply. He still became the highest-paid player ever; he got a five-year deal that walks him right to becoming an Unrestricted Free Agent, and the money left “on the table” is not nearly enough to spread it around to the Sharks’ young core.

Mike Grier will have his hands full over the next few years trying to lock up the likes of Michael Misa, Will Smith, Sam Dickinson, Igor Chernyshov, Collin Graf, and Yaroslav Askarov. They also have youngsters coming up in Ivar Stenberg, Keaton Verhoeff, and Ryan Lin to take into account. Signing Mason Marchment, Jacob Trouba, and trading for Darnell Nurse at a combined $24.25 million AAV certainly does not help, although the longest time remaining on those deals is Trouba with five years.

Celebrini taking a very small discount will not help these future negotiations, as the other young core will also want to get paid. In the end, this is an excellent problem to have if you are Mike Grier, but it becomes more difficult with one of those players being the highest-paid player in the game.

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