The San Jose Sharks have a highlight to wind down the 2023-24 as they win the NHL Draft Lottery. The Sharks had a difficult 2023-24 NHL regular season finishing dead last with 47 points. That was five less than second last place, the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks will receive the second overall pick in the upcoming 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
This year’s draft contains a clear first-overall pick in Boston University forward Macklin Celebrini. He has been rated as the top prospect, pretty well unanimously, and for some time. Furthermore, listed below are our picks as Last Word for the top-five rated prospects heading into the draft. The order does not reflect the team’s needs that are picking in that particular spot.
- Macklin Celebrini – Forward – Boston University Terriers
- Konsta Helenius – Forward – Jukurit
- Ivan Demidov – Forward – SKA St. Petersburg
- Sam Dickinson – Defence – London Knights
- Anton Silayev – Defence – Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
The San Jose Sharks have won the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery, and the right to draft Macklin Celebrini first overall. pic.twitter.com/W99seUwpp5
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 7, 2024
The 2024 Draft Lottery Goes to the San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks came into the NHL Draft Lottery sitting with an 18.5% chance of winning it. Back a few weeks ago, San Jose clinched the best odds of receiving the first overall pick in the NHL draft following a 6-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, April, 13th. The Sharks finished the season at 19-52-9 this season. This will mark San Jose’s first time drafting first overall in their franchise’s history. It is interesting that Celebrini’s dad, Rick, has a connection to the area’s sports scene. He is the NBA’s Golden State Warriors Vice President of Player Health and Performance. Not a bad career for raising a kid who is a high-performance athlete. One note on Celebrini from today, as well as fellow Canadian young star, Adam Fantilli, both are injured. The Team Canada World Championship roster will not contain either star in its lineup.
Chicago Blackhawks
The Hawks came in with the second-best odds of obtaining the first pick and will finish second. The Hawks won last year’s NHL Draft Lottery and selected rookie phenom Connor Bedard. Chicago finished the NHL season on a 6-game losing streak. Moreover, from last year, even though the odds were stacked against them, Chicago got the first pick with only 11.5% odds. They also got the first pick in 2007 with 8.1% odds and drafted Patrick Kane. There are still plenty of great picks available within the top five, depending on their specific needs.
Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks came into the NHL Draft Lottery with the third-best odds and will select third. Anaheim finished at 27-50-5, which is far better than Chicago and San Jose. Anaheim has not had much success in draft lotteries in past years with them having the best odds to land the first overall pick last season and falling to the second pick, selecting Swedish player Leo Carlsson.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets will select fourth in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Coming into the lottery, the Jackets were not able to move up one spot and land the third overall pick so the chances of them landing the fourth, fifth, or sixth pick seemed likely. Moreover, this will be a big draft for a Columbus team that has been treading water for the past few seasons, despite a collection of talented young players. This will also be the first selection for a new Blue Jackets front office following Jarmo Kekäläinen‘s firing in February.
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens will pick fifth in the upcoming draft, one spot ahead of the Utah Hockey Franchise. Utah will simply take the same slot that Arizona would’ve qualified in. Montreal was tight in the standings with both the Ottawa Senators and Arizona Coyotes to end the season. However, both Ottawa and Arizona finished the year strong which gave Montreal more cushion down in the standings. Montreal couldn’t have leap-frogged Columbus in the lottery, but they could’ve fallen back. So, that is a positive takeaway for them landing the fifth pick.
Stay tuned as the NHL Entry Draft takes place in Las Vegas at the magnificent Sphere on June 28-29. Also, be sure to check us out at Last Word for all your prospect coverage leading up to and during the draft.
Main Photo Credit: John Mersits / USA TODAY NETWORK
