The San Jose Sharks won the draft lottery on Tuesday and general manager Mike Grier already knows who he’ll pick with the No. 1 pick: Boston University center Macklin Celebrini.
“I would think so ,yeah,” Grier said when asked if he expects to choose the 17-year-old forward, college hockey’s youngest winner of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award and NHL Scouting Bureau’s top-ranked prospect.
The Sharks kept their position in the lottery and are set to pick first in the NHL draft for the first time in franchise history after finishing last in the overall standings this season.
Though from North Vancouver, British Columbia, Celebrini is familiar with the Bay Area and Grier, who also played at Boston University.
“I was thrilled. It’s a big moment for the organization and the fans here to have the opportunity to draft someone like Macklin,” Grier said. “It was a tough year for us. To have this opportunity, we couldn’t be more excited.”
Celebrini’s father, Rick Celebrini, is currently vice president of player health and performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, and the youngster spent a year playing for the Sharks’ junior team.
“Obviously, they’re a great organization. If I’m fortunate enough to get drafted there, I’d be very lucky,” the younger Celebrini said.
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 remained the same. The NHL’s 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 also announced on Tuesday that the draft will be held at the Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28 and 29. It’ll be the first event televised at the venue.
This marked just the second time in franchise history — and first since San Jose’s inaugural season in 1991-92 — 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 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
Celebrini completed a season in which he finished third among Division I skaters with 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) in 68 games and earned both Hockey East’s player and rookie of the year honors.
At 6 feet tall and weighing 190 pounds, he has a chance to be only the fourth NCAA player, and the second forward, to be chosen as the first overall pick, and the first since Michigan defenseman Owen Power was selected first by Buffalo in 2021. The only other college forward drafted first was Michigan State's Joe Murphy by Detroit in 1986.
Last season, Celebrini was the youngest player in college hockey and is considered a "strong skater with a fluid stride, elusive speed and quickness," according to a report from Central Scouting.
"He has the rare, elite ability to succeed with his skills and intelligence while facing every challenge with a consistent passion to produce results, all the while becoming a better player," stated Central Scouting chief Dan Marr.
Artyom Levshunov, a freshman defenseman from Michigan, who is from Belarus, is ranked second among North American prospects, followed by Medicine Hat Tigers center Cayden Lindstrom.
The top European skater from Central Scouting is 6-foot-7 defenseman Anton Silayev, from Sarov, Russia.
TONIGHT’S PLAYOFF GAMES
BRUINS at PANTHERS
Game 2, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
The Florida Panthers' season will not end on Wednesday night. The Boston Bruins cannot eliminate them, and regardless of what happens, there will be a flight to Massachusetts on Thursday and another game there on Friday.
So, it's not a must-win.
The Panthers might disagree.
Wednesday night features Game 2 of the Panthers-Bruins series, with Boston aiming to take a 2-0 lead in the NHL second-round playoff series. Florida has been behind 2-0 in a playoff matchup five times in its history and has not come back to win any of them. The Panthers were swept by Colorado in the 1996 Stanley Cup Final, swept by New Jersey in the first round in 2000, lost to Tampa Bay in six games in the 2021 first round, got swept by the Lightning in the second round in 2022, and lost last year's Final to Vegas in five games.
“Nobody’s gone 16-0 as far as I know,” said Panthers coach Paul Maurice on Tuesday. “So, everybody’s going to suffer … you rebound and you learn from it.”
OILERS at CANUCKS
Game 1, 10 p.m., ESPN
The Oilers are up against the Canucks in the first playoff series between two Canadian teams since 2022, when Edmonton defeated archrival Calgary in five games to advance to the Western Conference final. Edmonton is expected to win against Vancouver this time as well, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
That’s likely because of how dominant Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl's team looked in defeating Los Angeles in five games in the first round. McDavid leads all playoff scorers with 12 points, Draisaitl has 10, and Edmonton went 5 for 12 on the power play and 10 for 10 on the penalty kill.
But the Canucks, under the guidance of Jack Adams Award finalist Rick Tocchet, are also strong. They overcame the loss of Vezina Trophy finalist goaltender Thatcher Demko and backup Casey DeSmith to injury in defeating Nashville, with rookie Arturs Silovs stepping in and stopping 75 of the 80 shots he faced.
