Sharks win NHL Draft lottery, No. 1 pick

The San Jose Sharks have the No. 1 pick in the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft after winning the NHL Draft Lottery on Tuesday.

The Chicago Blackhawks earned the second pick and the Anaheim Ducks have the third pick.

The Sharks, who at 18.5 percent had the best chance of winning the lottery, would pick No. 1 for the first time in their history. They have chosen the number 2 position three times (Pat Falloon, 1991; Andrei Zyuzin, 1996; Patrick Marleau, 1997).

The 2024 draft will take place at Sphere in Las Vegas. The first round will be on June 28 and rounds 2 to 7 on June 29.

The lottery, held at the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, consisted of the 16 teams that failed to qualify for the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The odds for the 16 teams were based on the reverse order of the regular season standings. The top 11 teams in the lottery were eligible to receive the first pick.

Only the first two chosen were determined by lottery. The remaining teams were ranked in order of arrival in the standings. Selections 17-32 will be determined by playoff results.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will pick No. 4 and the Montreal Canadiens will pick No. 5.

San Jose (19-54-9), which finished 32nd in the NHL, could use the No. 1 pick to select center Macklin Celebrini, who was No. 1 in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings of North American skaters. The 17-year-old (6-foot, 190-pound) left-hander from Boston University in Hockey East is the youngest player in NCAA Division I men’s hockey this season and the youngest to win the Hobey Award Baker, presented annually to the top NCAA men’s hockey player.

“There were definitely some nerves,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said. “…It’s exciting to have the opportunity to cast someone like Macklin.

“It’s almost like a nice reward after this year.”

Grier was asked if he has made a decision about selecting Celebrini with the first pick.

“I think so,” he said. “He played 200 feet. He’s 17 years old, but he already has a very solid build and I think he already has a professional attitude and mentality. I talked to (coach) Jay Pandolfo at BU, and he said sometimes they have to throw him out of the ice.

“I just think it’s the way he plays; he works just as hard in the defensive zone as he does in the offensive zone. When you put it all together, we think he’s in a good place (to be ready for the NHL).”

Celebrini was second among NCAA players with 32 goals and third with 64 points in 38 games for the Terriers, and was named Hockey East Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, joining Jack Eichel (2015), Paul Kariya (1993 ) and Brian. Leetch (1987) as the only players to win the awards in the same season. Celebrini also earned the Tim Taylor Award for National Rookie of the Year.

Asked if he feels relieved now that he knows where he’s headed, Celebrini told ESPN: “Obviously San Jose is an incredible organization. It’s great. … Obviously I lived there (in the area) for a while growing up, with my dad with the (Golden State) Warriors (as vice president of player health and performance). They are a great organization. “If I am lucky enough to be selected there, I would be very lucky.”

If the Sharks select Celebrini, he will be the second consecutive Vancouver-born player to be selected No. 1. North Vancouver-born center Connor Bedard was selected No. 1 by the Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Draft.

“Macklin Celebrini has had a remarkable freshman season at BU and has been a model of elite consistency,” said Central Scouting Director Dan Marr. “He has that rare ability to thrive on his skills and passion to meet every challenge head-on and generate results, while becoming a better player.”

Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson said the Blackhawks are thrilled to have the second pick.

“We’re really excited about how things turned out tonight,” Davidson said. “He wasn’t No. 1, but I think for us, the way we look at this draft and what we can acquire in the June draft, No. 2 is a big win. … I can’t wait to go deeper with our amateur staff next week to begin the process of finalizing that board or being on the path to finalizing it.”

Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek told the Ducks’ website: “While it’s disappointing not to win the lottery, we remain in a position to draft one of the best players available and add to our young, strong core of the best. young players who are already in the NHL.”

The Blackhawks and Ducks will have plenty of elite players to choose from if Celebrini is off the board. Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, has been No. 2 in Central Scouting’s final North American skater rankings all season. The 18-year-old right-hander (6-2, 208), the third-youngest player in men’s college hockey, ranked second nationally among freshmen at his position and tied for 10th among all defensemen with 35 points (nine goals, 26 assists) in 38 games. He led the Big Ten with a plus-27 rating while playing on a pair of top defenses all season.

“He’s got a lot of offensive talent, he’s good on the power play and he’s got trickery, he can shoot through screens and get it on guys’ tape,” Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale said. “He really values ​​defense. He’s not perfect, as it’s something that young players still need to improve on, but I think he has his head in the right place.”

The top two players in Central Scouting’s final rankings of international skaters are also expected to be in the top five: defenseman Anton Silayev of Torpedo in the Continental Hockey League and right wing Ivan Demidov of St. Petersburg in the youth league of Russia.

Silayev (6-7, 211) scored 11 points (three goals, eight assists) and 74 blocked shots, and led Torpedo with 98 hits in 63 regular-season games. The 18-year-old scored the most points by an under-18 player in KHL history; Vladimir Tarasenko is second (10 points for Novosibirsk in 2008-09).

“It’s not often you find a 6-foot-7, 211-pound defenseman who can move like he does with his smooth, active skating step,” NHL European scouting director Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen said. “He seems to always be alert and is able to quickly pass pucks to his forwards in transition. He can carry the puck and has a great release. His personal skills are still a little raw, but his ceiling is high. He looks very composed in “He looks like he’s ready to play in the NHL almost immediately.”

Whichever team drafts Silayev will do so with the understanding that his KHL contract with Torpedo runs through 2025-26, so patience will be necessary.

Demidov (5-11, 181), a left-handed shooter, scored 60 points (23 goals, 37 assists) in 30 regular season games and 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 17 Minor Hockey League playoff games.

“We had a difficult discussion about Silayev and Demidov, who we think could be franchise players in the NHL,” Vuorinen said. “We believe Demidov is the most skilled player in this year’s draft, even when compared to North American skaters. This doesn’t mean he would be the best hockey player in the draft, but Demidov’s personal skills are out of this world when playing in the MHL.”

NHL DRAFT ORDER 2024

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Chicago Black Hawks
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. Columbus Blue Jackets
5. Montreal Canadians
6.Utah
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Seattle Kraken
9. Calgary Flames
10. New Jersey Devils
11. Buffalo sabers
12. Philadelphia Flyers
13. Wild Minnesota
14. San Jose Sharks (of the Pittsburgh Penguins)
15. Detroit Red Wings
16. St. Louis Blues

*Remaining positions will be determined by the results of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

NHL.com Deputy Editor-in-Chief Adam Kimelman and freelance correspondents Bruce Miles and Chelena Goldman contributed to this report.