San Jose Sharks General Manager Mike Grier was so elated over winning Tuesday’s NHL draft lottery that he dispensed with tradition by coming out and stating exactly who he expects to select with the No. 1 pick: Boston University center Macklin Celebrini.
Where past general managers in Mr. Grier’s position have done their best to keep their choice under wraps until stepping to the podium on draft day, Celebrini’s abilities and ties to San Jose were too much to keep secret for a Sharks team looking ahead to a brighter future.
“I think so, yeah,” Mr. Grier said when asked if he anticipates using the top pick on the 17-year-old forward, college hockey’s youngest Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner and the NHL Scouting Bureau’s top-ranked prospect. “It’s a big moment for the organization and the fans here to have the opportunity to draft someone like Macklin.”
Celebrini figures to join a collection of talented young Sharks forward prospects that includes William Eklund, the seventh overall selection in the 2021 draft, and Will Smith, last year’s fourth overall pick who starred this past season at Boston College.
Suddenly, the sting of finishing last in the overall standings, a painful rebuilding process that led to San Jose trading high-priced stars such as Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, and Timo Meier, and the firing of Coach David Quinn have been replaced by a buoyant sense of hope.
“It’s been a tough year for fans and the team and the players and the organization, so this is a nice prize for what we went through,” said Mr. Grier, whose Sharks are scheduled to pick first in the NHL draft for the first time in franchise history. “I think he’s got the ability to play [right away].
“I think he’s a 200-foot player, which is rare for someone who is as offensively gifted as he is. I love his competitiveness. I watch him practice. And he works. Every drill, he goes as hard as he can. I think he’s a real unique player at this stage.”
Though from North Vancouver, Canada, Celebrini is no stranger to the Bay Area or to Mr. Grier, who also played college hockey at Boston University before going on to a lengthy NHL career.
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 youth hockey for the San Jose Jr. Sharks.
“Obviously, [San Jose is] a great organization. If I’m fortunate enough to get drafted there, I’d be very lucky,” the younger Celebrini said.
With a 25.5 percent chance to secure the first pick, the Sharks became the third last-place team in the past four drawings to win the lottery. Only the Anaheim Ducks last year failed to receive the top prize for finishing last.
For everyone but those in San Jose, 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 Anaheim.
While fortune smiled on the Sharks, the Ducks once again missed out on a chance to draft first overall. Despite having the best odds of getting the top pick and a shot at Bedard last year, Anaheim dropped to No. 2 and wound up with Swedish center Leo Carlsson.
This year marked the first time since the 2010 draft lottery that the order of selection went unchanged. 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 on Tuesday also announced what has been in the works for some time: 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.
Celebrini completed a season in which he finished third among NCAA Division I skaters with 64 points, including 32 goals, in 68 games. He became just the fourth freshman to win the Hobey Baker as college hockey’s top player, and was both the Hockey East player of the year and rookie of the year.
Listed at 6-feet and 190 pounds, he has the opportunity to become just the fourth NCAA player—and second forward—to be selected first overall, and the first since Michigan defenseman Owen Power went No. 1 to the Buffalo Sabres in 2021. The only other college forward drafted first was Michigan State’s Joe Murphy by the Detroit Red Wings in 1986.
Celebrini was college hockey’s youngest player last season and is regarded as being a “strong skater with a fluid stride, elusive speed and quickness,” according to a Central Scouting report.
“He 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,” Central Scouting chief Dan Marr said.
This season marked just the second time in franchise history—and first since San Jose’s inaugural season in 1991-92—that the Sharks finished last in the NHL overall 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 first-round pick, the No. 14 overall selection originally held by Pittsburgh. San Jose acquired the pick 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.
Other top North American draft prospects include Michigan State freshman defenseman Artyom Levshunov, who is from Belarus, and center Cayden Lindstrom of the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers.
Central Scouting’s top-ranked European skater is 6-foot-7 defenseman Anton Silayev, from Sarov, Russia.
