It was a given that Macklin Celebrini would eventually land the richest contract in the history of the San Jose Sharks. That became reality Wednesday with a $94 million deal topping Erik Karlsson’s eight-year, $92 million contract seven years ago.But in arriving at a five-year extension (beginning in 2027-28) that will pay out $18.8 million in average annual value, which tops Leo Carlsson’s then-record $18 million, Celebrini laid out his priority in negotiations between his agent (Pat Brisson of CAA Sports) and Sharks general manager Mike Grier.It wasn’t to be the first NHL player to clear the $20 million AAV threshold in his contract. Which, in this new fertile financial terrain, was very possible.“No, not at all,” Brisson told The Athletic when asked if Celebrini had interest in wearing that banner. “Not for him. For him, it was zero. He wanted to make sure that we structure a deal that will help the team. It is kind of team friendly in a sense: He’s leaving 3 to 3 1/2 percent on the table every day. I’m OK with it. It was important for Macklin to create a team-friendly deal and environment. … It’s well-crafted and it makes a lot of sense. It achieves his goals of helping Mike and the team try to structure a winning brand there.”The Sharks were willing to pay top dollar to a 20-year-old whom Grier on Wednesday fondly called “a different cat, a different animal.” Celebrini would have been eligible to make the maximum 20 percent of the 2027-28 salary cap of $113.5 million, which would be $22.7 million. It’s easy to conclude why he might be worth that when Carlsson’s deal with the Anaheim Ducks will occupy 17.1 percent of the cap for 2026-27, but Celebrini was the one in the Hart Trophy conversation after a stupendous sophomore NHL season.Even if the number settled in at $20 million AAV, Grier said, Sharks owner Hasso Plattner would have gladly paid that.“I don’t think Hasso would have hesitated to give him that if that’s what he asked for,” Grier said. “Very appreciative and happy that Mack just decided to … take a little bit less and give us some flexibility and have some extra cap dollars down the road as we go on.”In a team statement, Celebrini said, “I couldn’t be happier to sign an extension today. The faith and support that Mr. Plattner, Mike Grier and the entire staff have shown me throughout the past two seasons is proof that we are building something special here. My teammates and I are ready to take another step toward the ultimate goal of bringing a Stanley Cup to this city and its incredible fans. I can’t wait to get going.”Brisson said he and Grier began talking in May to sketch out the framework of a contract. Those talks came after conversations among Celebrini, his family and Brisson’s group, which centered on how he felt about San Jose and the direction of the Sharks. The fact they took a leap — with the young superstar powering them — from 52 points in 2024-25 to 86 last season didn’t hurt the process. “It’s a young team and going in the right direction,” Brisson said.Talks with the Sharks were scaled back until the middle of June, when Brisson met with Grier in San Jose, Calif. Celebrini was back home in North Vancouver but kept in the loop. And he expressed his one demand.“His directive to us was ‘I do not want to take 20 percent or 19 percent,’” Brisson said. “We almost had to convince him to be in the 17 percent (strata). But when his deal kicks in next year, he’s at 16.5 percent of the cap. The optics right now, the look, it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s a big number. Of course, he’s the highest AAV-wise.’ But he did leave money on the table and it’s all percentage-based.“It was important to Macklin to help Mike. Because we could have gone on a three-year deal perhaps, even four years, but it was important to Macklin to give Mike a five-year extension as he wanted to give him a five- to six-year runway to do what he needs to do. Again, it was imperative for Macklin not to take what he was capable of taking, and the team and Mr. Plattner and everyone appreciates the fact that — I know the optics are not that when you see 18.8, but he took less than what a player like this could command.”There is almost a re-education underway of the salaries top NHL players can request as the salary cap continues to shoot up. Grier said on multiple occasions Wednesday that he wouldn’t have been bothered if Celebrini wished to make the maximum any player is eligible to earn.But the fact that Celebrini didn’t focus on creating a new industry standard and put the Sharks in a cap management bind going forward wasn’t lost on Grier. “Yeah, I was very happy to hear it and very grateful to be honest with you,” he said.“I think he would have had every right to ask for the full max, but for him to come out right away and kind of tell us that he wanted to make sure we had some flexibility down the road and he wasn’t looking to take the max amount of money he could meant a lot to me,” Grier continued. “Showed his faith and his commitment to the organization and him wanting to be here and be successful here. It was pretty important and pretty cool for me to hear that from such a young player, kind of having that maturity.”Five years gives Celebrini and the Sharks objectives to reach by the time he is ready for what could be an even bigger contract to negotiate when this extension concludes in 2032. The franchise face could become an unrestricted free agent at age 26. One could only imagine what he’ll be worth if he has multiple 100-point seasons on his hockey card and starts filling a trophy case with major awards.Meanwhile, the Sharks will work on becoming a playoff team and a potential Stanley Cup contender in this six-year window. Grier wanted to lock him down for eight years, which remains the maximum until the new collective bargaining agreement comes into effect on Sept. 16. But five is long enough for now.“I think it works for both sides,” Grier said. “It shows Mack’s commitment to the organization and to his teammates and to the fans here. To give it five more years after this year to just kind of see where we’re at, and see if we’re evolving and growing and winning games and competing for championships, is what we all want and what Mack especially wants. It allows me that little bit of time to keep building this thing up and seeing where it can go.”Brisson said there was a common goal of getting an extension done for Celebrini this summer and not having any uncertainty over his next deal linger into the season. He said it helps that the NHL and the players’ union were able to project cap figures for multiple seasons and have already figured that revenues and the cap will continue to grow. (Grier said his group is also calculating growth internally).While Grier said the Carlsson offer sheet “maybe changed things a little bit” in terms of the NHL’s financial ecosystem, Brisson said that had no bearing on the Celebrini negotiations; he called what his client has done “unicorn-ish” in two seasons while comparing what he’s accomplished to what Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid did at that age.“Macklin Celebrini falls into a no-comps line,” Brisson said. “It’s Crosby, McDavid at 19 years old what he’s accomplished. … But he made sure to tell me, ‘I don’t want the last penny.’ And that’s why we came up to this number.”In this five-year contract, Celebrini will have 94.7 percent paid out in annual signing bonuses with a full no-movement clause in Year 5. The bonus structure will change in the new CBA as contracts will have a cap of 60 percent paid out that way. But as he lauded Plattner for his monetary backing, Grier feels he accomplished the duality of putting Celebrini out front in the league’s ever-changing salary race and retaining the flexibility he’ll need to build a championship team around him.“Being a former player, I never begrudge a player for wanting to get as much money as they can and earn a living in their short earning window here as players,” Grier said. “I think we wanted to make sure Mack felt valued here, that he was compensated fairly.“You know, in our eyes — and no disrespect to anyone — in our eyes, he’s the best young player in the league. We felt like we wanted to pay him an amount that was commensurate with that.”