Game One Of Celebrini Bowl Starts Tonight; Sharks Coach Gives Thoughts On Projected No. 1 Pick
The San Jose Sharks play the Chicago Blackhawks tonight for the first time, and these two teams hold the best odds to land the 2024 No. 1 overall pick.
John Mersits / USA TODAY NETWORK - Game One Of Celebrini Bowl Starts Tonight; Sharks Coach Gives Thoughts On Projected No. 1 PickThe San Jose Sharks play the Chicago Blackhawks tonight for the first time, and these two teams hold the best odds to land the 2024 No. 1 overall pick.
The Blackhawks won last year's draft lottery. At No. 1, the Hawks took a bonified potential superstar in Connor Bedard, and he has been just as advertised, if not better than expected.
"I think he's an incredible talent. He's everything everybody thought he was going to be and probably a little bit more," Sharks head coach David Quinn said. "You hate to see anybody get hurt. I know how much he means to their franchise, and I know how much he means to the league, and it would have been a great challenge for us."
Bedard won't play in tonight's game due to a fractured jaw. He's been skating alone the last two days as he tries to beat his 4-6 week return timeline.
Macklin Celebrini is the consensus projected No. 1 pick in the upcoming 2024 NHL Draft. NHL Central Scouting released its rankings for North American and European draft prospects and ranked Celebrini first.
Celebrini has 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 17 games for Boston University. He played for Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship and was arguably their best player.
"What an elite talent he is, and what a complete game he plays for a kid at such a young age," Quinn said about Celebrini. "How intelligent he is. People rave about him in a lot of areas, and I think he's earned everything he's gotten. When you're that age, and you show up at the World Juniors and are Canada's best player, I think that really says it all."
The Sharks had the fourth-best odds to land Bedard last season and did not move after the lottery results were announced. The Sharks selected Will Smith. Smith is a high-end prospect and will be a tremendous talent in the NHL.
Quinn sarcastically joked that a brief winning streak at the end of last season was why they didn't get Bedard. He and the organization are thrilled to have Smith and excited for his eventual arrival.
"As a coach, it's so far out of your control," Quinn said about not watching last year's draft lottery. "I say this a lot when you're going through what we're going through and what Chicago was going through, it sounds great [in] June, July, and August, but then you sit through it, and you go through it, boy is losing hard."
While having the best chance at a player like Macklin Celebrini is needed for the San Jose Sharks, to go through the regular season as they have this year has put a lot of strain on the players, coaches, and front office.
When the regular season ends, if the Sharks and Blackhawks finish within six points of each other in the standings, this game and the two future matchups will be the first to analyze why these teams finished ahead or behind each other.
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