Macklin Celebrini breaks absurd record with latest hockey card sale

According to Bar Down, the Sharks center's one-of-one rookie card sold for a staggering $1.28 million USD, the highest public sale ever recorded for a hockey card not featuring Wayne Gretzky.

The card in question is the 2024-25 Upper Deck Young Guns Outburst Gold #451, a true 1/1 that surfaced this summer after a collector pulled it from a pack purchased at a Chicago-area shop.

Rather than flip it privately, the owner sent the card to Goldin Auctions, where it opened at just $15,000 and climbed steadily over more than two weeks of bidding.

Offers in the hundreds of thousands were reportedly turned down before the card ever hit the auction block, a sign of how badly collectors wanted in.

Young Guns is widely considered the definitive modern rookie card format in hockey, and the Outburst Gold parallel is its rarest possible version.

With only one copy in existence, it is a true grail. Celebrini's on-ice performance only adds fuel.

After a strong rookie season, he broke out in 2025-26 with 115 points, a Sharks single-season record, and signed a five-year, $94 million contract that made him the NHL's highest-paid player.

No Young Guns Gold 1/1 has ever existed for Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, or Connor McDavid, making Celebrini's card genuinely unmatched among the sport's biggest stars. Only Gretzky memorabilia sits above it in hockey's collecting hierarchy.

At just 20 years old, Celebrini already looks like a generational talent. If his trajectory continues, some believe he could develop into the best player in the entire NHL within the next few seasons, which would only push this card's legacy further into hobby lore.

Sources should be confirmed before publishing, as the final sale price has not yet been independently verified beyond Bar Down's report.

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