The San Jose Sharks placed rookie Macklin Celebrini on injured reserve Saturday with a lower-body injury.
The move came two days after Celebrini made an impressive debut, recording a goal and an assist in an overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Celebrini, 18, was chosen first overall in June and is being counted on to help start the rebuilding in San José. In the preseason he was hampered by a lower-body injury. Coach Ryan Warsofsky said Celebrini is week in and week out.
Celebrini became the youngest player in NHL history to record two points in the first period of his debut, according to Sportradar, at 18 years and 119 days. Shane Doan held the previous mark of 18 years and 362 days, when he scored two points for Winnipeg against Dallas in 1995.
He also scored the second-fastest first goal in history for a No. 1 pick, with his goal at 7:01 of the first game, trailing only Mario Lemieux, who scored 2:59 into his debut against Boston on October 11, 1984.
Celebrini scored 64 points in 38 games as a freshman at Boston University last season, when he won the Hobey Baker Award for college player.
Barkov will miss 2-3 weeks
Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov will miss two to three weeks with a lower-body injury, coach Paul Maurice said Saturday.
Maurice said he's optimistic Barkov will return in time, if not sooner, for the Panthers' two NHL World Series games against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 1 and 2, which will take place in Barkov's hometown. center, Tampere, Finland.
“It might take that amount of time, but we think it should be in that window,” Maurice said after the Panthers' morning skate before their game in Buffalo.
Barkov was injured with 70 seconds left in a 3-1 loss in Ottawa on Thursday while trying to prevent Tim Stützle from scoring an empty-net goal. He and the Senators forward tangled, and Barkov crashed feet first into the end boards.
Wincing in pain, Barkov needed about a minute before he was able to get to his feet, and then needed the help of teammates Evan Rodrigues and Uvis Balinskis to get off the ice.
Maurice also said Saturday that forward Matthew Tkachuk would not play against Buffalo due to illness.
Defenseman Adam Boqvist is scheduled to return after missing one game. He will wear a protective helmet after being hit in the face by a puck in the defending Stanley Cup champion's 6-4 season-opening victory over Boston on Tuesday.