SAN JOSE – Two of the game’s elite young stars will play each other for the first time as NHLers on Thursday and the face Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks at SAP Center.

when Macklin CelebriniSan Jose Sharks

Celebrini and Bedard for years to come, maybe throughout their careers, as they play the same position, share the same hometown, and as No. 1 overall picks in back-to-back years, are the crown jewels of

figure to be linked togethereach team’s respective rebuild.

“You remind yourself a little bit of like the Sidney Crosby-(Alex Ovechkin) days, when they were kind of the one-two punch after each other and the battles that they would have,” Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said. “And I’m sure that the league is hoping for the same kind of rivalry that begins with these two.”

Celebrini was injured against the Blackhawks earlier this season, which the two teams split. Maybe a subtle difference between the 18-year-old Sharks center, and Bedard, 19, this year, though, is who they’ve had along for the ride all season.

for the Sharks’ first two games