NHL draft lottery: San Jose Sharks win No 1 pick with eye on Macklin Celebrini

Mike Grier was so excited about winning the NHL draft lottery on Tuesday night that the general manager of the San Jose Sharks ditched tradition by coming out and saying exactly who he expects to select with the No. 1 pick : Boston University center Macklin Celebrini.

While former General Managers in Grier’s position kept their picks a secret until they took the stage on draft day, Macklin’s abilities and ties to San Jose were too great to keep it a secret from a Sharks team looking to a brighter future.

“I think so, yeah,” Grier said when asked if he expects to make the best choice for the 17-year-old forward, the youngest recipient of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award in college and the NHL’s top-ranked prospect Scouting Bureau. “It’s a big moment for the organization and the fans here to have the opportunity to draft someone like Macklin.”

Grier then went so far as to envision where Celebrini would fit in his lineup to complement the Sharks veteran centers of Logan Couture and Mikael Granlund.

Suddenly, the incentive to finish last in the overall standings, a yearslong rebuilding process that led to San Jose trading old stars like Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns and firing coach David Quinn, has been replaced by a vibrant sense of hope.

“It has been a difficult year for the fans and the team, the players and the organization. So this is a nice price for what we have experienced. We are excited,” said Grier, whose Sharks will pick first in the NHL draft for the first time in franchise history. “I think he has the ability to play (right away).”

Although Celebrini is from North Vancouver, British Columbia, he is no stranger to the Bay Area or Grier, who also played at Boston University.

Celebrini’s father, Rick Celebrini, is currently vice president of player health and performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, and the youngster played one year for the Sharks’ junior team.

“It’s clear it’s a great organization. If I am lucky enough to be drafted there, I would be very lucky,” the younger Celebrini said.

With an 18.5% chance of winning the lottery and a 25.5% chance of picking first, the Sharks became the third last-place team in the past four drawings to win the lottery, and 11th overall since the system was introduced in 1995.

The lottery turned out to be an anticlimax, with no changes made to the draft decision for the first time since 2010.

The Chicago Blackhawks, who selected Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick last year, retained the No. 2 selection, followed by the Anaheim Ducks. The NHL’s newest market, Utah, remained at No. 6. Salt Lake City landed an NHL franchise last month with the relocation of the Arizona Coyotes.

The league also announced Tuesday what has been in the works for some time: the draft will be held June 28 and 29 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. It will be the first televised event at the venue.

Celebrini completed a season in which he ranked third among Division I skaters with 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) in 68 games and earned both Hockey East player and rookie of the year honors.

At 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, he has a chance to become just the fourth NCAA player — and second forward — selected first overall, and the first since Michigan defenseman Owen Power was taken No. 1 in 2021 was sent to Buffalo. The only other college forward drafted first was Michigan State’s Joe Murphy from Detroit in 1986.

Celebrini was college hockey’s youngest player last season and is considered a “strong skater with a fluid stride, elusive speed and quickness,” according to a Central Scouting report.

“I think he’s a 60-yard player, which is rare for someone as offensively gifted as he is,” Grier said. “I like his competitiveness. I see him practicing. And he works, he does every exercise as hard as he can. I think he is a very unique player at this stage.”

This season marked only the second time in franchise history – and the first since San Jose’s inaugural season in 1991-92 – that the Sharks finished last in the NHL standings. San Jose’s 19 wins were the third fewest in team history in a full NHL season.

The lottery results also led to the Sharks securing a second pick in the first round, 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 keep the selection only if it landed in the top 10 of the draft order.

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 Scouting’s top European skater is 6-foot-2 defenseman Anton Silayev, from Sarov, Russia.