The San Jose Sharks won the draft lottery on Tuesday and earned the right to have the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft for the first time in franchise history.
The Sharks finished last in the overall standings and retained their position in the lottery. Now San Jose has the opportunity to select Boston University center Macklin Celebrini, who is ranked first among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
Celebrini is from North Vancouver, British Columbia, but has previous ties to the Bay Area as he spent a season playing for the SharksB次元官网网址� junior team. His father, Rick Celebrini, is currently vice president of player health and performance for the NBAB次元官网网址檚 Golden State Warriors.
San Jose had an 18.5% chance to win the lottery, and a 25.5% chance to pick first.
The lottery proved anti-climactic with no changes to the draft order. The Chicago Blackhawks, who selected Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick last year, retained the No. 2 selection, followed by the Anaheim Ducks.
It marked the first time since the 2010 draft lottery that the order of selection went unchanged. The NHLB次元官网网址檚 newest market, Utah, stayed put at No. 6. Salt Lake City landed an NHL franchise with the relocation of the Arizona Coyotes last month.
The league on Tuesday also announced what has been in the works for some time: the draft will be held at the Sphere in Las Vegas June 28 and 29. ItB次元官网网址檒l be the first event televised at the venue.
This marked just the second time in franchise history B次元官网网址� and first since San JoseB次元官网网址檚 inaugural season in 1991-92 B次元官网网址� the Sharks finished last overall in the NHL standings. In missing the playoffs for a fifth straight season, the Sharks are in a total rebuild mode entering their third offseason under general manager Mike Grier. San Jose is coming off a season in which its 19 wins were the third-fewest in team history in a full NHL season.
Grier fired coach David Quinn last month, and previously began overhauling his roster by trading high-priced stars such as Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Timo Meier.
The lottery results also led to the Sharks securing a second first-round pick, No. 14 overall and held by Pittsburgh. San Jose acquired the selection in a trade that sent Karlsson to the Penguins, who had the right to retain the selection only if it landed in the top 10 of the draft order
The 17-year-old Celebrini completed a season in which he finished third among Division I skaters with 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) in 68 games, and becoming just the fourth freshman to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college hockeyB次元官网网址檚 top player.
Listed at 6-feet and 190 pounds, he has the opportunity to become just the fourth NCAA player B次元官网网址� and second forward B次元官网网址� to be selected first overall, and first since Michigan defenseman Owen Power went No. 1 to Buffalo in 2021. The only other college forward drafted first was Michigan StateB次元官网网址檚 Joe Murphy by Detroit in 1986.
Celebrini was college hockeyB次元官网网址檚 youngest player last season and is regarded as being a B次元官网网址渟trong skater with a fluid stride, elusive speed and quickness,B次元官网网址� according to a Central Scouting report.
B次元官网网址淗e possesses that rare, elite ability to thrive with his skills and smarts while competing with a consistent passion to face every challenge head on and generate results, all the while making himself a better player,B次元官网网址� said Central Scouting chief Dan Marr.
Michigan freshman defenseman Artyom Levshunov, who is from Belarus, is ranked second among North American prospects, followed by Medicine Hat Tigers center Cayden Lindstrom.
Central ScoutingB次元官网网址檚 top European skater is 6-foot-7 defenseman Anton Silayev, from Sarov, Russia.
