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Macklin Celebrini’s maturity beyond his years is helping the prized Sharks rookie in these hard times.

While the losses keep piling up for the Sharks — they’re 4-19-1 since Dec. 3, and they’re in the midst of a six-game losing streak — the 18-year-old phenom appears to be handling it well.

“I’m not going be happy that we’re losing,” Celebrini told San Jose Hockey Now after practice on Sunday. “You can’t dwell on it either. You kind of got to let it go at some point, but definitely not going to be fine with it.”

As the No. 1 overall pick, Celebrini naturally is viewed as the future of the Sharks franchise.

That’s a lot of weight on the teenage rookie’s shoulders. But Celebrini knows that he can only do one job.

“You just take care of your job,” Celebrini told SJHN. “Take care of your guy [defensively] and kind of do your job. I think that’s the message with a lot of teams I’ve been on. Can’t do everyone’s job for them. So if everyone does their job, then we should be pretty good.”

It would be tempting for Celebrini to try to play hero ball, to try to do too much. That’s what most youngsters would do, if they were as skilled as Celebrini is — try to score the team out of their troubles.

But Celebrini already understands what winning hockey is, a defense-first mentality that he has carried from his days as a boy, playing in North Vancouver’s North Shore Winter Club.

“Obviously, there’s frustration, and when we’re losing and not having success, it’s tough to kind of just sit back and do it,” Celebrini said. “But at the end of the day, it’s the right thing to do. You play team sports, you got to play as a five-man unit. If you’re handling more than what you’re supposed to do, it ruins everyone else’s job.”

It can take a long time for a player to develop that mindset and apply it on the ice. But Celebrini is already doing that, according to head coach Ryan Warsofsky.

That’s offensively and defensively.

It’s easy to see Celebrini’s 15 goals and 20 assists in just 40 games.

But Warsofsky spoke to where Celebrini has improved most in season, a maturity on the ice that makes his maturity off the ice believable.

“Defensively, it’s not even close. The way he is defensively, where he is positionally,” Warsofsky said. “He’s one of our better defensive centers. You ask coaches around the league, for an 18-year-old kid, it’s remarkable.”

It’s also believable when Celebrini says he’s not getting a ton of advice from friends and fellow No. 1 overall picks Joe Thornton, Jack Hughes and Connor Bedard about the Sharks’ plight.

Celebrini’s idol, Sidney Crosby, went through a similar experience with the Eastern Conference-worst 2005-06 Penguins as an 18-year-rookie.

He urged Celebrini to take a step back.

“I think just enjoy it,” Crosby, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, told San Jose Hockey Now on Monday. “I mean, nobody likes losing, no matter if you’re in your first year, your 20th year. The reason he plays is to win games, and that’s what it’s about. But I think for him, just understanding that process.”

It’s worked out for Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup winner and sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer.

“He’s a competitive guy,” Crosby said. “He wants to win every night. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s how you have to be. But you just gotta enjoy it, though it’s your first year, and a lot of new things, a lot of great memories from this year.”

So is Celebrini able to take a step back?

“I know kind of how to let it go,” Celebrini said.

That’s off the ice.

On the ice, the losing is killing Celebrini, as we’ve seen in multiple postgame interviews.

But it’s good to see that the 18-year-old star has perspective, because this isn’t the last of the losing for the rebuilding Sharks.

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