The San Jose Sharks will make the first overall pick over the summer, and it’s not much of a secret who they’ll take.
The Sharks owned the highest odds to acquire the first pick after their 19-54-9 season. In fact, the lottery went chalk from one to 16.
San Jose now owns the rights to top prospect Macklin Celebrini.
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The 17-year-old is currently at Boston University, but that figures to not last much longer. His Terriers made the Frozen Four but lost to the eventual champions in the University of Denver in the national semifinals.
Celebrini already has a college season under his belt and World Juniors action before the age of 18; he’s eligible to play in the latter tournament two more times.
And simply put, he’s a stud. In 38 games with BU, he scored 32 goals and handed out assists on another 32. And while Team Canada mustered up a fifth-place finish at the World Juniors, he racked up four goals and four assists in the five games he played.
“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to possibly pick someone like Macklin,” general manager Mike Grier said, not even trying to be secretive. “It’s almost like a nice prize after this year.”
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“He played 200 feet. He’s 17, but he’s got a really solid build on him already, and I think he’s got a professional attitude and mentality already,” he said. “I’ve talked with (coach) Jay Pandolfo at BU, and he said sometimes they have to kick him off the ice. 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. When you put it all together, we think he’s in a good spot [to be NHL-ready].”
Chicago and Anaheim own the second and third picks after having No. 1 (Connor Bedard) and No. 2, respectively, last year.
The organization formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes, who will now play in Salt Lake City, will select sixth.
There was speculation that ESPN’s John Buccigross had leaked the results of the draft lottery on X, formerly Twitter, as he posted and then deleted a shot of the studios with seemingly a picked order. However, Buccigross clarified and said it was a rehearsal.
That post had Utah selecting second, so queue the conspiracy theories that an ESPN employee robbed Utah of a better pick.
The Sharks will turn in the card on June 28.
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