Chicago's Celebrini Sweepstakes Numbers: Blackhawks' Odds Heading Into NHL Draft Lottery

Chicago finished in second-to-last place in the standings, so it has the second-best chance of drawing the first-overall pick for the second straight year. Here's the full spread.

No matter where they land in the 2024 NHL Draft lottery on May 7, the Chicago Blackhawks will take the best player available, according to general manager Kyle Davidson.

Although Davidson doesn't name names of potential draftees, Boston University power forward Macklin Celebrini is the top-rated prospect. Celebrini, who scored 32 goals and 32 assists as a freshman in 38 games, would neatly bookend crafty Connor Bedard, whom the Blackhawks took No. 1 overall in 2023.

Besides, both Celebrini and Bedard are from North Vancouver, British Columbia. Bedard said they skated together when they were very young, "about 8," and before Celebrini moved to the San Francisco Bay area with his family.

What is known? The Blackhawks' odds entering the 2024 lottery. 

No matter where the Blackhawks land, Davidson claims they won't select players based on their position, style of play or size. It will be straight-up on overall ability and upside.

"Best player available," Davidson said. "That's been a pretty consistent philosophy from myself. The draft, you don't get to pick and choose what that most talented player is and what position they're at or how big they are, how small they are, what hand they are...

"You only get one shot to grab the best player and you just have to grab the best player, and figure it out from there." See video.

That's subject to interpretation, though. 

Celebrini would be a slam-dunk for Chicago. But after him, many of the other top-rated 2024 draft possibilities are defensemen. The Blackhawks have a deep pool of promising young D-men in their system and are thinner among forwards.

So who's rated 1-4 right now? The Blackhawks' draft board might be slightly different but:

No. 1.  It's Celebrini, who like Bedard last season will go first barring something unforeseen.He's rated first among North Americans by NHL Central Scouting and its director, Dan Marr, called Celebrini "an NHL All-Star in the making."

The precocious 6-foot-0, 190-pound winger was the youngest player ever to win the Hobey Baker Award as the top NCAA player.  

Celebrini skated in the San Jose Junior Sharks program, so he'd be heading home if the last-place Sharks secure the No. 1 pick. His dad works for the NBA Golden State Warriors.

Celebrini has a Chicago connection too: He played a year with the USHL Chicago Steel before going to BU. The Steel are owned by the Wirtz Corporation, the family-owned business entity that owns the Blackhawks.

No. 2. The second-rated North American prospect, Artyom Levshunov, and top-rated international skate, Anton Silayev, are both defensemen. If Davidson just wants the best assets regardless of position, these would be his choices.

Levshunov, from Belarus, played last season for Michigan State. The 6-foot-2, 208-pounder has a "man-child" build as an 18-year-old and would adjust quickly to physical pro play. He's also fast and skilled, posting nine goals and 26 assists in 38 games for the Spartans as a freshman and was a plus-29.

Silayev, at 6-foot-7 and 211 pounds, is roughly the same size as current Chicago D-man Alex Vlasic. The Russian just turned 18, so he played 63 games last season for Nizhny Novogrod Torpedo of he KHL as a 17-year-old. Silayev posted three goals and eight assists while going minus-9.

Marr said Silayev is "a fluid skater and has the puck skills, attributes, and intangibles to be considered a franchise-type prospect. He has quick smarts, instincts, and composure to read and react on the play and has a very efficient transition and puck movement game."

No. 3. Cayden Lindstrom is the No. 3 rated North American prospect. A 6-foot-3, 210-pound center from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, he's a WHL product who scored 27 goals and 46 points in just 32 games for the Medicine Hat Tigers last season. A upper-body injury that required surgery limited the strong-skating, tenacious forward.

No 4. Ivan Demidov, of SKA-1946 St. Petersburg in the MHL, Russia's top junior league, is ranked No. 2 among international prospects by central scouting.

It's still a stretch, but the 18-year-old Demidov has been compared to Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov. But the 5-foot-11, 180-pound winger is fast and skilled, and the possibility of him clicking with Bedard might move Demidov up Davidson's draft board. 

Demidov missed 24 games in 2023-23 with an injury. However, he sizzled following his return, finishing second in MHL scoring with 23 goals and  60 points in 30 games.