Elite Rush Team-Play with Macklin Celebrini
A Quick Lesson From Top 2024 NHL Draft Prospect Macklin Celebrini
Every once in a while you see something that catches your eye. The below assist from Macklin Celebrini, who is the early favorite to be the first selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, provided one of those moments on the below rush play.
Saving Ice
On a two-on-two rush, most players would drive wide and try to get a shot off. Celebrini generates speed with linear crossovers and it looks like he may try that route. The only issue is that’s the lane that his teammate is already occupying. This “blue line” route is a dime-a-dozen.
Rather than releasing the puck early or skating into a teammate’s ice, Macklin actually skates toward pressure and threatens the defender. The defender responds by moving further to the middle/dangerous ice and completely vacates the near side of the ice highlighted in yellow.
Macklin’s movement and patience to wait for the defender to cross once more towards the middle allows his teammate to move into a threatening space completely untouched before releasing a shot from a high-danger area.
This is elite hockey IQ on display. This play showcases Celebrini’s care for his teammates and his understanding of team play. He improves the condition of the puck despite purposefully putting himself in a worse situation/spot.
Further Reading
How Crosby and Guentzel dismantled the NYR on a 2v2 rush opportunity and turned it into a goal
Inverted rushes are rarely practices, but make up majority of rushes that teams will encounter