Sharks rookie phenom lands on injured reserve after one game

After a strong NHL debut, Sharks center Macklin Celebrini will have to wait a week for his second appearance.  The team announced that he has been placed on injured reserve; defenseman Jack Thompson was recalled from AHL San Jose to take his place on the roster.

Celebrini was the top pick in the draft back in June, and after taking some time to think about his plans for this season, decided to forego the rest of his college eligibility and turn pro.  He didn’t see much preseason action playing just twice out of six games, but that didn’t stop him from having a strong debut, one that saw him record two points.

Part of the reason he didn’t see much action in the exhibition season was that he was dealing with a nagging lower-body issue during training camp.  He’s now once again dealing with a lower-body injury, one that might be related to what he was going through in recent weeks.  With how early it is in the season, it makes sense to give Celebrini a few extra days of rest to try to eliminate the problem completely over having him play at less than full health.

As for Thompson, the 22-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level contract and is in his first full year with the Sharks after he was acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline.  He got into three NHL appearances between the two squads last season and added 41 points in 62 AHL appearances.

While it might seem strange that a defenseman was brought up to replace a forward, San Jose had only been carrying six healthy blueliners on their active roster with Shakir Mukhamadullin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic both injured.  Thompson will now give them a bit of insurance on the back end while the Sharks still have 14 available forwards on their roster.