Greg Wyszynski
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- Greg Wyszynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
Several authors
San Jose Sharks center McLean Celebrini made video game history by making NHL history this season.
Celebrini, 20, will be featured on the cover of both the standard and deluxe editions of NHL 27 when those games release later this year. According to EA Sports, Celebrini is the youngest player ever to be featured as an athlete on the cover of an NHL series. Trevor Zegras was 21 years old when he appeared on the cover of NHL 23 as a member of the Anaheim Ducks.
“I thought it was amazing. I loved it,” Celebrini told ESPN when asked about the cover. “It’s a pretty simple process: They just sent it to me and I was like, ‘Yeah, that looks good.’
He wears a white Sharks road jersey on the cover of the Standard Edition and a turquoise Sharks home jersey on the Deluxe Edition.
The next generation is here. McLean Celebrini is the youngest NHL cover athlete in history. Watch the #NHL27 promotional trailer on July 16th at 11:00 am ET.
➡️ ⬅️ pic.twitter.com/YOUwVtwSTT
— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) July 14, 2026
The NHL 27 cover continues a banner year for Celebrini, who was selected No. 1 overall by the Sharks in the 2024 draft. He set the San Jose franchise record for points in a season (115, including 45 goals), scoring 56 more points and 21 more goals than any other Sharks player in the 2025–26 season. Celebrini was a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award as the NHLPA’s Most Outstanding Player and finished fourth in the Hart Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s Most Valuable Player.
Last week, Celebrini was named the IIHF Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season based on his accomplishments in the NHL and outstanding performance at the Olympics for Team Canada. Celebrini led the tournament with five goals in six games and 10 points, and Canada won the silver medal in men’s ice hockey after losing to Team USA in the final.
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“It was a lot of fun. Of course it was a very, very hard ending, but I think the whole experience was so cool, just being in the Olympic Village and getting that experience from the other athletes that were there,” he said.
Celebrini enters his third NHL season with 178 points (70 goals, 108 assists) in 152 career games. The Sharks made several moves this offseason in pursuit of their first playoff berth since 2019, including signing defensemen Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba and Michael Kesselring and drafting forward Ivar Stenberg with the No. 2 overall pick.