NHL Draft Lottery: What Macklin Celebrini Can Bring to the San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks are the big winners of the 2024 NHL draft lottery, receiving the opportunity to select Macklin Celebrini first overall. Tony Ferrari breaks down what Sharks fans should expect.

The 2024 NHL draft lottery has come and gone, and the San Jose Sharks are the winners.

The Sharks were awarded the first overall pick and the opportunity to add Macklin Celebrini at the NHL draft on June 28. They had the best odds to land the first overall pick, and they won for the first time in franchise history. The highest the Sharks have ever picked is second overall, getting Patrick Marleau in 1997, Andrei Zyuzin in 1996 and Pat Falloon in 1991.

The Chicago Blackhawks had the second-best odds, and they won the second overall pick after winning first overall last year, picking Connor Bedard.

Celebrini, the 2024 Hobey Baker winner, has done everything and more to solidify his spot atop the draft board this season.

Unless the Sharks tell Celebrini to go back to college – an unlikely event – he will be joining the pro ranks and making an NHL impact next season. Aside from winning the national championship, Celebrini has accomplished everything he can at the NCAA level. He was the nation’s second-highest goal-scorer behind Cutter Gauthier and finished second in points per game behind future Sharks teammate Will Smith.

Celebrini was Canada’s clear-cut best player at the World Junior Championship this past winter, leading the team in scoring by a wide margin. Despite Canada fizzling out of the tournament early, there were nothing but positive reviews for Celebrini, who showed maturity, leadership and effective play-driving despite starting on the third line.

The pedigree goes back beyond this season, though, as he was the USHL leading scorer en route to collecting the league’s Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards, among countless others. Celebrini has been destined for greatness for a while now. His eventual selection at first overall by San Jose will validate all of the work and time he has done to get here.

If Celebrini steps into the NHL next year, he should slot nicely in as the top-line center in San Jose. Sharks captain Logan Couture may slot in on the top line by default to start the year, but it shouldn't be long before Celebrini takes the role.

He will also help slot 2023 fourth overall pick Will Smith into a great spot as the team’s second-line center when he decides to leave Boston College, where he led the nation in scoring this year. The Sharks now have a 1-2 punch down the middle to build around, which could make them dangerous for years in the NHL’s Western Conference.

Celebrini’s father is the director of sports medicine and performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Having his son close to home is a perfect situation. Celebrini's closeness to his father will only benefit him, as it will help ease his adjustment to life as a professional athlete.

Celebrini’s game is built upon having high-end tools in just about every facet of his game and then combining those tools with his high level of intelligence. His shot might be the closest tool to elite, but the rest of his game doesn’t lag far behind.

The most impressive part of Celebrini’s game at this stage is the ability to adapt to his linemates, make the best of a situation and find ways to be effective. He can play any role on a line, whether he needs to be the finisher or facilitator, the first man in on the forecheck or the support player in a board battle.

Celebrini reads the play, adapts and then looks to get himself to the middle of the ice. If he has the puck, he looks to bait the defender to the outside before shifting his weight and attacking the inside.

The projected future Shark has a diverse scoring arsenal as a shooter. Celebrini can wire a shot off the rush with a quick, heavy release or jump on a loose puck around the net to bury it from in tight. Celebrini has a wicked one-time shot on the power play that he locates with precision. His shot is his strongest offensive tool, but he is far from a one-trick pony.

His passing ability and vision on the ice have been impressive this season, developing into a true playmaker who uses his own threat of scoring to manipulate opponents. He will set up for a one-timer, and instead of bombing a shot on the net, he will send a hard pass to the back door for a tap-in. He has also shown the ability to set up for a shot on the rush and then flip his hips and find a teammate once defenders close in.

In transition, Celebrini is an effective puck carrier who uses his teammates when needed. He isn’t the fastest skater or the most dynamically skilled stickhandler, but he reads his routes and evades opponents through the middle of the ice at a high level. When he has to defer to teammates, he will instantly jump into space in hopes of receiving a return pass.

Celebrini is always looking for the puck and wants to dictate play. He plays a tactical game with a cerebral mindset. Adding that to the San Jose group of young players gives them a pillar to build around.

His play in the defensive end isn’t perfectly refined, but he’s grown a great deal since joining Boston University in the fall. He makes better reads, gets into position with more consistency and has learned to generate offense from his defensive play. With a bit of coaching, Celebrini should be a well-above-average defensive center.

Celebrini has high-end tools, but he is an elite player who is more than the sum of his parts because of his mind. He isn’t reliant on one or two traits. He is impressive because of his ability to build on each trait to improve the others.

The San Jose must be ecstatic with the opportunity to pick first overall in the 2024 NHL draft. Celebrini isn’t quite Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews or Connor Bedard, but he is a legitimate No. 1 pick. And because the Pittsburgh Penguins' first-round pick didn't move up into the top 10, that selection transfers to the Sharks as well at 14th overall.

Now, all the Sharks have to do is wait until June 28, when they'll be at the Sphere in Las Vegas to make the big selection.

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