NHL Draft At The Sphere Kicks Off With Macklin Celebrini To The Sharks

The NHL Draft took place at Sphere in Las Vegas — hopefully, they've aired it out a bit since Phish and Dead and Co. played there — and to the surprise of absolutely no one, the San Jose Sharks used the first overall pick to select Boston University's Macklin Celebrini.

The draft is the first televised event held at Sphere, and man, oh man, does it look incredible.

Just absolute scenes as the kids say.

That looks so cool, and it's an awesome backdrop for a really interesting crop of prospects.

While there is some real talent in this class, there's only one top dog and that's Macklin Celebrini. It's been known for a while that Celebrini would go No.1 and that the San Jose Sharks would have the honor of picking him after winning the NHL Draft Lottery in May.

Now, it's official… and they did it in style with Sharks legend Joe Thornton reading off the pick.

It's a homecoming for Celebrini, whose dad works for the Golden State Warriors as the team's director of sports medicine and performance. 

The 17-year-old is the reigning Hobey BakAward winner after a stellar freshman campaign with the Terriers. However, there are still some discussions to be had about whether Celebrini will go straight to the NHL or head back to Boston for another season in the NCAA.

There are pros and cons to both, and it's a matter of whether Celebrini as well as Sharks GM Mike Grier think he'll develop better with another season in college or if he would be better off jumping into the deep end that is the NHL.

It's a philosophical question more than anything. Celebrini could hold his own in the NHL, but the Sharks can afford to wait a year for him given that the team really isn't in a position to win anything, other than maybe the draft lottery (again).

I think we'll see Celebrini in the NHL next season. He's that good and at 6-foot, and almost 200 pounds, he has the size to handle the physical side of the game in the National Hockey League.