Macklin Celebrini just handed Ryan Warsofsky and the San Jose Sharks a major spotlight before NHL 27 even got its official cover reveal.
A new report says Celebrini is set to appear on the cover of NHL 27, and the leak didn't come from a flashy teaser or a staged rollout.
It came from preorder links.
Some aren't happy, to say the least.
"Doesn't win a ******* thing this year but gets the cover. Insanity"
That detail matters because it shifts this from fan chatter to something with real weight. When a player's name starts showing up in retail material that early, the leak usually has traction.
For Celebrini, it's another sign that his profile is moving fast. He was drafted 1st overall in 2024, and he's already being pushed into the kind of spotlight reserved for the league's biggest names.
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That's a huge jump for a player still at the front end of his NHL run. It also says plenty about how the league and its partners view his pull with younger fans.
The Sharks suddenly have a face everyone notices in Celebrini on NHL 27
This is bigger than a video game cover. For the Sharks, it's a branding win that lands right in the middle of a rebuild built around speed, skill, and a new core.
Celebrini isn't just another top pick with hype attached to him. He's becoming the player tied to the franchise's next chapter, and that changes the temperature around the whole room.
It also puts more eyes on Warsofsky's bench. Every step Celebrini takes now will be watched harder, from line usage to power play deployment to how the Sharks build around him.
The franchise hasn't had this kind of cover moment since Owen Nolan appeared on NHL 2001. That's a 26-year gap, and it shows how long the Sharks have waited for a player with this kind of pull.
Connor Bedard had owned a lot of that next-face-of-the-game buzz. Now Celebrini is pushing into that same lane, and this leak only adds fuel to that race.
Nothing is official until EA Sports says it. But once a leak like this gets tied to preorder material, it stops feeling random.
And if the reveal holds, Celebrini won't just be carrying the Sharks into next season. He'll be carrying one of hockey's loudest marketing stages too.
Should Macklin Celebrini already be the face of NHL 27?
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