The San Jose Sharks won the NHL draft lottery for the first time in franchise history Tuesday and general manager Mike Grier left little doubt that he’ll use this year’s No. 1 selection on Boston University center and former Jr. Sharks standout Macklin Celebrini.
“I would think so, yeah,” Grier said of taking the 17-year-old Celebrini first overall at the NHL Draft next month in Las Vegas.
Following one of the most painful seasons in the team’s 33-year existence, in which they sunk to the bottom of the NHL standings, the Sharks had a 25.5 percent chance of winning the draft lottery and earning the right to select Celebrini, the dynamic, ultra-competitive forward widely considered the best player available in this year’s draft.
Now that the top selection has been secured, the Sharks hope a new era can soon begin with Celebrini, the youngest-ever winner of the Hobey Baker Award (college hockey’s Heisman award), as a potential centerpiece for the rebuilding organization.
“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to possibly pick someone like Macklin. It’s a big day for the organization,” said Grier, who had some nerves in the moments before NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly revealed the Sharks had won the lottery.
“It was a tough year for the fans, the team, the players, and the organization. So this is almost like a nice prize for what we went through.”
Celebrini, at the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey, for the draft lottery, did not reveal much emotion when the results were announced.
“Obviously, San Jose is an amazing organization,” Celebrini later told ESPN. “It’s pretty cool.”
By finishing with the NHL’s worst record at 19-54-9, the Sharks could fall no further than third overall in the NHL’s draft order. San Jose had drafted second overall three times, most recently in 1997 when they took Patrick Marleau, but had never won the draft lottery or selected first overall.
The Sharks also had an 18.8 percent chance of having the second overall pick and a 55.7 percent chance of getting the third overall selection.
While Grier said last month that he and others in the organization were excited about having a top-three draft pick this year, Tuesday’s lottery result has to be met with unparalleled excitement — both in the team’s front office and among its fan base.
“If I’m fortunate enough to get drafted there,” Celebrini said of the Sharks, “I’d be very lucky.”
Over the last two or three years, the Sharks have built one of the NHL’s better prospect pools, with Celebrini now the crown jewel who could step into the team’s lineup as soon as the start of next season. He finished this past year with 64 points in 38 games and led the Terriers to an appearance in the NCAA’s Frozen Four.
“Macklin Celebrini has had a remarkable freshman season at BU and has been a model of elite consistency,” Central Scouting director Dan Marr told NHL.com. “He possesses that rare ability to thrive with his skills and passion to face every challenge head-on and generate results, all the while making himself a better player.”
Grier said he’ll speak with Celebrini and his representative to gauge their thoughts on turning pro right away. There does not appear to be much doubt that Celebrini has the ability and the maturity needed to take the next step.
“I think he’s got the ability to play,” in the NHL next season, Grier said. “He’s got a special mentality to make himself better and push himself. Super competitive. He brings it every day, and already, as a 17-year-old kid, he has a great level of professionalism.
“He gives himself every chance to succeed, and I think for us, it gives us the possibility — along with Logan (Couture) and (Mikael Granlund) — to possibly have another really good center down the middle. It’s exciting.”
Celebrini has drawn comparisons to former Chicago Blackhawks captain and three-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Toews. His Bay Area ties — his dad, Rick, is the Warriors’ vice president of health and performance — make him a natural fit with the team, which is looking to generate more buzz in the market after five straight years without a playoff appearance.
“What’s exciting for us is that he’s a kid who knows the area,” Grier said. “His family’s got a house 30 minutes from (San Jose) and he expressed some excitement about the possibility of being a Shark.
“People who want to be here and are all-in on the organization are important for us, and I think that’s where he’s at.”
After he and his family moved to Northern California from Vancouver, Macklin Celebrini played one year with the Jr. Sharks in 2019-2020. He then moved to play at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a boarding school that counts several NHL stars, past and present, among its alumni.
After a year in the USHL with the Chicago Steel, Celebrini committed to Boston University, Grier’s alma mater.
“I just think it’s how he plays the game; he works just as hard in the defensive zone as he does in the offensive zone,” Grier said of Celebrini. “When you put it all together, we think he’s in a good spot (to be NHL-ready).”
Tuesday’s lottery determined the selection order for this year’s first 16 picks. One lottery drawing determined which team drafted first, and the second determined which team had the second overall pick.
The Blackhawks, who had a 13.5 percent chance of winning the lottery, will draft second overall, and the Anaheim Ducks, at 11.5 percent odds, will have the No. 3 selection.
For each of the two drawings, 14 ping pong balls, numbered 1 through 14, were placed in a lottery machine. That allowed for 1,001 possible combinations (one combination is deleted to make it an even 1,000). Each lottery team was assigned a certain number of four-number combinations, and the Sharks had 185 combinations, more than any other team.
The lottery machine selected four balls, and the resulting four-number series was matched against a chart showing every possible combination. The Sharks had the combination that won the lottery.
As a condition of last summer’s three-team trade that saw Erik Karlsson go to Pittsburgh, the Sharks also now have the 14th overall selection in June. The Penguins sent a 2024 top-10 protected draft pick to the Sharks as part of the Karlsson deal, but since Pittsburgh did not move up in the draft lottery, that pick now belongs to San Jose.
The Sharks will have four picks in the top 42 in the draft, with their own selection at No. 33 overall and the New Jersey Devils’ second-round pick at No. 42. That conditional pick was part of the trade that sent Timo Meier to the Devils in February of last year.
