NHL News

Macklin Celebrini’s Rookie Card Just Sold for $1.28 Million

A Macklin Celebrini rookie card just sold for $1.28 million. It’s a one-of-one, and the story behind how it was pulled is even better.

by
Old Prof
August 16, 2026

A Macklin Celebrini rookie card just sold today for a wild amount of money. It was $1.28 million USD at Goldin Auctions on Saturday. And the wild part is it’s not even a Wayne Gretzky card, which is usually what you expect when numbers get this ridiculous. This one is the one-of-one “Outburst Gold” parallel from Celebrini’s 2024-25 Upper Deck “Young Guns” rookie.

The Person Who Pulled the Card Was Looking for Young Guns: He Got the One-of-One Instead

Here’s the more interesting backstory: the buyer apparently grabbed a box hoping to pull a base “Young Guns” Celebrini card, especially after how he popped off at the Olympics with Team Canada. Instead, they ended up with a 1/1 parallel, which is basically the collector equivalent of winning the lottery and then accidentally hitting the bigger lottery right after.

Even if you’re not super deep into cards, it’s hard not to connect the dots with why this would go off the rails price-wise. Celebrini’s already becoming that kind of “future superstar” name, and his play has been backing it up. Last season he scored 45 goals and 115 points. That was the third-most points ever by a teenager (behind Gretzky and Crosby). He was also a Ted Lindsay finalist. On top of that, he got named the IIHF Male Player of the Year after starring at the Olympics and the World Championship.

Celebrini’s Market Value Might Continue to Go Upward

And because it’s the NHL, the contract side matters too. Celebrini’s 2026-27 salary is $975,000 before performance bonuses. But he already signed an extension that’ll pay him $94 million over five seasons, so his market value isn’t exactly going down anytime soon.

For comparison, the biggest hockey card sale ever is a Gretzky O-Pee-Chee rookie graded PSA 10 that sold for $3.75 million in a private auction back in 2021. Modern guys like McDavid, Crosby, and Ovechkin don’t even have a one-of-one parallel of their “Young Guns.” That means that the Celebrini card is the “only one that exists.” That angle is a big part of why this got so much attention.

(Quick note: a couple of days ago, when the card was at about $488,000, that was already huge. And it just kept climbing.)