Teen Celebrini captains Canada and has Crosby for company at world hockey champs, U.S. defends title

Canada's Macklin Celebrini plays against Finland during the third period of a men's ice hockey semifinal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Macklin Celebrini is to captain Canada and Sidney Crosby will join him on the team at the world hockey championship in Switzerland, where the United States sets out to retain the trophy it won in 2025 for the first time in 92 years.

Celebrini, the 19-year-old teenage star of the San Jose Sharks, is the youngest-ever Canada captain and the youngest on the team’s roster for the worlds, which open Friday in the cities of Zurich and Fribourg.

He has had a year to remember. In only his second NHL season, the center recorded staggering numbers, setting a record for the Sharks with 115 points for 45 goals and 70 assists in 82 regular-season games.

Celebrini finished fourth in the league and was a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award along with established stars Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Only two teenagers have reached the 50-point mark faster in a season than Celebrini, two of the greatest players in NHL history: Crosby and Wayne Gretzky.

Celebrini’s performances have earned him a place on a Canada team that had to settle for silver at this year’s Milan Cortina Olympics.

Canada is the most successful nation at the worlds, with 28 titles, and is one of the favorites every year no matter who is available at the time of the NHL playoffs.

Celebrini joins forces with two 35-year-old alternate captains, John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ryan O’Reilly of the Nashville Predators.

The last-minute addition of Crosby for his fourth appearance at the tournament is a boost for Canada, which is hoping to rebound from a disappointing fifth-place finish last year.

Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, was at the 2025 tournament on a team that included Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, but the Canadians were stunned 2-1 by Denmark in the quarterfinals.

Canada last won the trophy in 2023.

Defending champion

Last year, Tage Thompson scored at 2:02 of overtime in the final to give the U.S. a 1-0 victory over Switzerland for its second world championship and first since 1933.

Thompson is not on the team this time round because his Buffalo Sabres face Montreal Canadians in the NHL playoffs. Only two men remain on the roster from last year, forwards Mason Lohrei of the Boston Bruins and Isaac Howard of the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL.

Forward Matthew Tkachuk can become the first American in hockey’s Triple Gold Club. He won the Stanley Cup back-to- back with the Florida Panthers and claimed a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games as part of the U.S. team.

There are 30 players who have been Stanley Cup, Olympic and world championship winners, led by 11 Canadians.

Tkachuk is the only Olympian from the Milan Games named to the U.S. team. Justin Faulk of the Detroit Red Wings will captain the U.S. in his fourth worlds.

Other contenders

After finishing runner-up the previous two years, host Switzerland hopes for more. The team includes forwards Nico Hirschier and Timo Meier of the New Jersey Devils, Nino Niederreiter of the Winnipeg Jets, Pius Sutter of the St. Louis Blues and Nashville star defenseman Roman Josi.

Sweden, with Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond, and Finland, with Florida center Aleksandar Barkov on board, are both traditional medal contenders.

Format

The 16 teams are divided into two groups for the preliminary round.

The United States is in Group A in Zurich with Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Austria, Hungary and newcomer Britain. Group B in Fribourg includes Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Denmark, Slovakia, Norway, Slovenia and another newcomer, Italy.

The top four in each group make the quarterfinals. The final and bronze-medal games are scheduled for May 31.

___

Karel Janicek, The Associated Press