The 17-year-old presumptive No. 1 pick at June鈥檚 NHL draft was named to Canada鈥檚 22-player roster announced Wednesday for the 2024 world junior hockey championship.
鈥淗uge honour,鈥� said a beaming Celebrini. 鈥淟ike every kid, it鈥檚 their dream.鈥�
The smooth-skating centre from Vancouver sits second in the NCAA with 10 goals and 25 points in 15 games this season for Boston University.
鈥淚 was surprised at how good he was,鈥� Hockey Canada executive Scott Salmond, who has scouted the phenom at different levels, said following the team鈥檚 selection camp.
鈥淔or a young player, at 17 years old, to play the way he did here is exciting.鈥�
Vancouver-born Celebrini is part of a group led by three teammates with NHL experience 鈥� forwards Owen Beck and Fraser Minten, and defenceman Tristan Luneau 鈥� set to compete at the under-20 showcase, which runs Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Minten 鈥� also from Vancouver 鈥� Matthew Wood from Nanaimo and McBride鈥檚 Tanner Molendyk are the other B.C. natives on the team.
Owen Allard, Easton Cowan, Nate Danielson, Jordan Dumais, Conor Geekie, Carson Rehkopf, Matthew Savoie, Wood and Brayden Yager round out the forward group.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty special,鈥� Geekie said. 鈥淎 lot of emotions.鈥�
Denver Barkey, Jagger Firkus, Paul Ludwinski and Markus Vidicek were the cuts up front.
Hockey Canada had the option of keeping a 13th forward, but instead chose to leave that spot open in hopes an NHL team will release a player 鈥� the most likely candidates are Boston Bruins centre Matthew Poitras and Buffalo Sabres winger Zach Benson 鈥� before Canada plays its first exhibition game next week.
鈥淭here鈥檚 still some opportunities,鈥� Salmond said. 鈥淪till some discussions that are ongoing.鈥�
Canada, which has won two straight gold medals and is looking for its first three-peat since 2009, could also recall one of Wednesday鈥檚 cuts, but Salmond said none of the forwards released were told they鈥檙e next in line.
鈥淲e debated that and debated even going with 13,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not fair to the player and I don鈥檛 even think to the team.
鈥淲e just want to leave that option open. But there is a chance that we could loop back.鈥�
Oliver Bonk, Jake Furlong, Maveric Lamoureux, Denton Mateychuk, Molendyk and Noah Warren make up the remainder of the defence corps. Canada cut blueliners Michael Buchinger, Jorian Donovan and Ty Nelson.
The three goaltenders are Samuel St-Hilaire, Scott Ratzlaff and Mathis Rousseau, while Domenic DiVincentiis was sent home.
鈥淗ard decisions,鈥� Peter Anholt, the lead member of Canada鈥檚 management group, said of conversations with the cuts. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e good players. They鈥檙e here for a reason. But we did the work, we鈥檝e gone through the process. It鈥檚 always hard to let players go that are 19 years old.
鈥淭hey handle it like pros. You expect that.鈥�
Beck experienced that at this time last year before getting a surprise call as an injury replacement for the medal round.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e really hoping you don鈥檛 hear the knock on the door,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t definitely sucks when it does happen. For some of those guys, there鈥檚 another opportunity next year.
鈥淎nd for the (other) guys 鈥� you鈥檙e one of the top-30 players in Canada. You can take a lot of pride in that.鈥�
Canada flies to Europe on Thursday, with the first pre-tournament game set for Tuesday against Denmark鈥檚 under-25 team.
The Canadians then meet Switzerland on Dec. 22 and the United States the following day before opening their world juniors Dec. 26 against Finland at Gothenburg鈥檚 Scandinavium arena.
Canada doesn鈥檛 have any returning players from the 2023 tournament currently in the NHL, with Connor Bedard (Chicago), Adam Fantilli (Columbus) and Kevin Korchinski (Chicago) all important parts on their teams.
Poitras, Benson and Shane Wright (Seattle/AHL) are the other options yet to be made available.
Beck, the lone returnee from last January鈥檚 gold-medal winning squad in Halifax, played one game for the Montreal Canadiens in 2022-23.
Minten dressed for four games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fall, while Luneau has skated seven times for the Anaheim Ducks.
鈥淚t always comes down to health of teams, it comes down to the contribution that players are making,鈥� Salmond said of getting an NHLer released for the world juniors. 鈥淚 have my own opinion on players and what this experience is like for them and how important it is, but ultimately respectful of those teams and where players are. We need to give it a few days and see how those players are and the health of their team.
鈥淭hat鈥檒l dictate a lot of where we are next week.鈥�
Celebrini and Wood, who were roommates at Canada鈥檚 selection camp west of Toronto, waited anxiously to find out their fates Wednesday afternoon.
鈥淲e were just chilling out,鈥� Celebrini said. 鈥淲e got that knock at the door. We both jumped up right away.
鈥淔elt like I was in there for a lifetime.鈥�
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