The hype surrounding Macklin Celebrini as he came into the USHL this season was massive, but the 16-year-old phenom from Vancouver somehow overshot the expectations by a fair margin. After a record-setting season, Celebrini was named the USHL's Rookie of the Year Tuesday.

No player under the age of 17 had ever produced at the level Celebrini did this season with the Chicago Steel. His 46 goals and 86 points shattered previous highs for U17 players in the USHL by double digits in each category. Celebrini was also the only player in the league during the 2022-23 season to eclipse the 80-point mark, leading the USHL in scoring by seven points. 

Just the beginning…

Read: https://t.co/9330V9GDP7#FeelSteel pic.twitter.com/qABdzw2tNt

— Chicago Steel (@ChicagoSteel) May 2, 2023

Celebrini also produced at 1.72 points per game this season, which is tied with Thomas Vanek for the fifth-highest rate among all USHL players in the Tier 1 era (minimum 25 games since 2001-02).

After a decorated career at the vaunted Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school in Minnesota where he produced at rates comparable to Shattuck alumni Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews, Celebrini produced four hat tricks in his first season including a Steel-record five-goal effort against the U.S. National Under-17 Team (video above). 

Celebrini is slated to be in the lineup for the Steel as they start the Eastern Conference Final against the Youngstown Phantoms Friday right here on FloHockey.

He is returning to the team after two weeks away representing Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship. While there, Celebrini matched Tyson Jost's single-tournament points record with 15 over seven games. His final point was the game-winning goal in overtime of the bronze-medal game.

Celebrini, who will not turn 17 until June, is slated to attend Boston University next season after accelerating his schooling to enter college early.

In addition to being named the top rookie, Celebrini also was a USHL first-team All-Rookie and first-team All-USHL selection as announced earlier this week.