Bedard, Celebrini enjoying summer skates near hometown of North Vancouver

VANCOUVER -- Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini didn't see much of each other on the ice when they were growing up in their hometown of North Vancouver, British Columbia, but the No. 1 picks from the 2023 and 2024 NHL Drafts were on the ice training together earlier this month.

Celebrini, who was selected No. 1 by the San Jose Sharks in 2024, joined Bedard, who was chosen No. 1 by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023, and a half-dozen other NHL players and prospects from the area for an afternoon session with Kaivo Hockey in Burnaby, British Columbia, a suburb located roughly 10 miles east of their old stomping grounds.

"It's fun," Bedard said. "Before the two of us, there was only Ryan Nugent-Hopkins from B.C. even to be picked that high (No. 1 by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2011 NHL Draft), so it's cool that we're obviously back-to-back years and we get to train together like this."

Bedard has been a regular at the skates. Celebrini has joined the group a half-dozen times at various points this offseason, including on Aug. 7.

"It's not very common to get that much talent together," said Celebrini, adding he normally works with coach Cole Todd at the North Shore Winter Club when he's home. "This is a great skate, obviously it's really well run, and there's a lot of great NHL players and AHL players out here that really push each other, so that's why I go out there."

The list last week also included Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson, Vancouver Canucks forward Arshdeep Bains, Tampa Bay Lightning center Gage Goncalves, Celebrini's Sharks teammate Luca Cagnoni, and Celebrini's older brother Aiden, a Canucks defenseman prospect who is preparing for his junior season at Boston University. Buffalo Sabres forwards Zach Benson and Alex Tuch also took part in the sessions earlier this summer.

All but Tuch are from the Vancouver area.

"The West in general and if you look at the Western Hockey League and how many guys it's produced lately, we're growing so much and it's fun getting to skate together," Bedard said.

It's even fun for defensemen like Aiden Celebrini, even though it's not easy going up against all those skilled forwards.

"It's a defender's dream just seeing all these top talents and getting to work on my game, getting those reps against so many different talents," Aiden said. "(Johnson) is a different player than (Bedard), who is a different player than (Macklin) but that's all you want as a defenseman is the variety and the quality. It's incredible."

Aiden is almost two years older than Macklin and played more with Bedard growing up, but has seen the bond between all the top local players grow at these summer skates.

"We all share roots at the North Shore Winter Club or playing on different teams together or even just running into each other during open hockey," Aiden said, "but some of my closest friends from around here, I didn't really become friends with until recently, until we started these skates. So it is kind of awesome to have such a tight-knit group of great guys, but also great athletes, that kind of push each other and make everybody else better."

Kaivo Hockey is a company started nine years ago by Justin Rai, who has since become head of player strategy for the Seattle Kraken

"There's a pretty special group of players in Vancouver," Rai said. "A lot of them grew up together or playing against one another. It's cool to see the friendships they've developed, and I think it leads to them competing against one another even harder on the ice. I think this competitiveness in the summer is unique."