Macklin Celebrini says he is open to taking less money to help the San Jose Sharks build a winner around him.
The 20-year-old center made the comment in an interview with ESPN's Greg Wyshynski that surfaced Thursday.
"Yeah, 100 percent," Celebrini said. "You want to put your team in the best spot possible where you give a team the ability to make moves necessary to win."
That is the same approach Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon have taken in Pittsburgh and Colorado over the years.
Both stars have left money on the table at different points so their front offices could keep adding talent around them.
Celebrini would be doing the same thing for a Sharks team that finished 22nd overall in the league this past season.
San Jose closed the year 39-35-8 for 86 points, going 5-4-1 over their final ten games under head coach Ryan Warsofsky.
Celebrini points to the model Crosby and MacKinnon set
He is not some struggling prospect looking for security either. Celebrini just finished one of the best age-20 seasons in recent memory.
He posted 45 goals and 70 assists for 115 points over 82 games, adding a plus-8 rating and eight power play goals.
Celebrini looks completely at ease on camera as he lays out why he would sign off on a hometown discount.
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General manager Mike Grier now has a real signal from his franchise player heading into a massive contract decision.
A 115-point season usually means leverage, not a discount, and Celebrini is offering to hand some of that leverage back.
That is not how most 20-year-old superstars operate, and it puts real pressure on Grier to use the room wisely.
San Jose still finished with the fifth-worst goal differential in the league at minus-41, a sign the roster needs help beyond one contract.
Whether Grier actually builds a winner with that flexibility, or wastes it, is the story that follows Celebrini into next season.
Should Macklin Celebrini actually sign a below-market deal to help the Sharks spend elsewhere?
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