(File Photo: Source for Photo: Canada’s Sidney Crosby (87) reacts after Canada lost to the United States in a men’s ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

(Zurich, Switzerland-AP) Macklin Celebrini will stay Canada’s captain after Sidney Crosby joined the team at for the world hockey championship in Switzerland.

Hockey Canada announced since joining, Crosby has been added to the leadership group for Canada’s National Men’s Team and will serve as one of three alternate captains.

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 Crosby and 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.

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.