San Jose Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini will make his NHL debut during Thursday's opening game against the St. Louis Blues.

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Celebrini returned to practice today after missing time with a nagging lower-body injury. The injury forced Celebrini to leave early during last Tuesday's preseason game against Utah HC.

"I'm all good," Celebrini said. "It sucks whenever you get hurt. [You are] busy rehabbing, but it was a nice little reset before the year."

Celebrini returned to his familiar spot in the lineup with William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli on his wings. He'd skated with that line against Utah HC before his exit.

The Sharks aim to have a better start to the season than the last two years. The team has gone on an extended losing streak each of the previous two seasons, and getting off to a good start is critical to any team's success.

"It's massive," Celebrini said. "It's a long season, and there's going to be a lot of ups and downs, but starting off on a good foot and starting the year the right way, I feel, is really important."

"It's exciting for the fans to see the first overall pick and the fourth overall pick in Will Smith," Sharks head coach Ryan Warsfofsky said. " Even [Danil] Gushchin has taken some steps forward. There are some players that are coming. We made some tough decisions this morning [with] guys that will probably impact our hockey club down the line. It's good. We gotta get rolling here."

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