Boston College freshman Macklin Celebrini is broadly anticipated to be the primary decide within the 2024 NHL … [+]
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For the primary time in franchise historical past, the San Jose Sharks will likely be choosing first total on the 2024 NHL Draft.
And the consensus high prospect, Macklin Celebrini, already has ties to their neighborhood and their group.
Macklin spent the 2019-20 season taking part in for the San Jose Jr. Sharks after his father, Rick Celebrini, signed on because the director of sports activities medication and efficiency for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Beforehand, Rick labored as a physiotherapist for his hometown Vancouver Canucks, the place Macklin and his older brother Aiden caught the hockey bug.
“His dad saved me from two hip surgical procedures, rehabbing each my hips,” mentioned Sportsnet hockey analyst and former Canuck Kevin Bieksa. “He did that for Manny Malhotra, Ryan Kesler, quite a lot of us in Vancouver.”
As for the boys, “I nonetheless bear in mind these two rolling round on the ice,” Bieksa mentioned. “They simply love the sport. And I’ve seen Macklin play for the Jr. Sharks when he was there, watching with Rick within the stands. He seems good in teal.”
A part of the ritual of the annual draft lottery is for fanbases to calculate their groups’ odds and dare to dream. Lately, that course of that has been difficult by new circumstances that had been added, together with {that a} group can now not transfer up greater than 10 spots. That makes the No. 1 choice unreachable for the underside 5 lottery members, and will increase the possibilities for the groups on the very backside of the standings.
This 12 months, the maths was moot. For the primary time since 2010, the alternatives unfolded within the actual order of the non-playoff groups’ finishes within the regular-season standings.
After transferring up two spots with their lottery win in 2023 and deciding on Connor Bedard — who, like Celebrini, hails from North Vancouver and grew up as a fan of the Canucks — the Chicago Blackhawks held regular with the second choice in 2024.
Although the lottery drawing itself was quick on drama, the televised unveiling was a slicker manufacturing than we’ve seen previously. Co-hosted by ESPN’s John Buccigross and Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino, there was little or no emphasis on the machinations of the choice course of and no accountant available to confirm the outcomes.
As a substitute, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made a short look to formally announce that the 2024 Draft will likely be held at The Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28-29, marking the primary stay televised occasion from the technological marvel. And as regular, NHL deputy commissioner Invoice Daly unveiled the draft order.
In a twist from earlier years, a relaxed and composed Celebrini was available on the NHL Community studios in Secaucus, N.J., breaking down tape and speaking about his feelings on a day that in the end charts his course for the long run.
The overall managers of the lottery groups have been available by way of video hyperlink, and Sharks GM Mike Grier appeared simply as excited that he has an opportunity to draft a fellow Boston College Terrier as he was concerning the skillset that the youngest Hobey Baker Award winner in NCAA historical past may deliver to the Sharks.
“I believe he’s a 200-foot participant, which is uncommon for somebody who’s offensively gifted as he’s,” Grier mentioned. “As a 17-year-old, he performs an actual full recreation on each ends of the ice. He cares and I really like his competitiveness.”
Whereas Grier’s first decide is a digital lock, he additionally holds decide No. 14 as a part of the package deal the Sharks obtained once they despatched Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins final summer time. There will likely be loads of volatility round that choice, and the remainder of the picks for the lottery groups. Based on longtime draft guru Bob McKenzie of TSN, scouts appear to have a normal consensus on which gamers belong within the high 15. However past Celebrini within the high spot, they’re all around the map on what ought to occur subsequent.
Groups can have yet one more huge probability to collect knowledge earlier than making their draft alternatives. The 2024 NHL Scouting Mix will characteristic bodily testing and interview alternatives. It runs from June 2-8 in Buffalo, NY.