San Jose Sharks Win NHL Draft Lottery, Also Known As The Macklin Celebrini Sweepstakes
We now know who will be picking first in this year's NHL Draft — which as Commissioner Gary Bettman announced, will become the first televised event held at The Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28 and 29, which will be very cool — and that honor goes to the San Jose Sharks.
The lottery was televised on ESPN ahead of Game 2 of the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes' second-round series.
The 16 teams were in the weighted lottery with each one having the ability to move up ten spots. This means that only the teams ranked from 1 to 11 in reverse finishing order from this season — the San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, the new Utah team (formerly the Arizona Coyotes, interestingly they were referred to by Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly as "Utah Hockey Club"), Ottawa Senators, Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres in that order — had a shot at the top pick.
The 12 to 16 teams — the Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, and St. Louis Blues were also in the drawing but were not capable of picking first.
The Sharks had an 18.5 percent chance of getting the top pick by winning the lottery, but a 25 percent chance of picking first overall, factoring in the possibility of one of those teams outside the top 11 winning the lottery.
The Sharks will also have the 14th pick which they acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer in the Erik Karlsson trade.
Macklin Celebrini could become the first Hobey Baker winner to be selected first overall in the NHL Draft. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)
Macklin Celebrini Will Be The Centerpiece Of The Sharks Rebuild
Boston University's Macklin Celebrini is the undisputed top dog in this year's draft class, so this year's lottery is essentially the Celebrini sweepstakes. How can you tell even if you didn't know ahead of time? Well, he was in the studio and on hand for the announcement, some interviews, and breakdown highlights.
The breakdowns of his highlights would have had all the GMs on the Zoom call drooling too.
It shouldn't be a stunner that Celebrini is at the top of the list this year given his stellar freshman season at BU led to a Hobey Baker Award win, college hockey's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. He had 32 goals and 32 assists for 64 points in just 38 games.
However, after BU got bounced out of the Frozen Four by the eventual champions from the University of Denver, the 17-year-old — yeah, he's young — was a bit non-committal about whether or not he'll go pro next season or return to BU for another season as a Terrier.
That could be the only thing that might — emphasis on might — affect his draft stock, but that seems unlikely. Sharks GM Mike Grier commented on Celebrini's "complete game," so it doesn't seem like he feels another year at BU is necessary.
Interestingly enough, whenever Celebrini does make the jump, he'll play in the Bay Area where he once played for the San Jose Jr. Sharks. His dad Rick Celebrini is the director of sports medicine and performance for the Golden State Warriors.