The San Jose Sharks added a foundational piece to their rebuilding plan by choosing Boston University centre Macklin Celebrini with the first pick in the NHL draft Friday.
after the 18-year-old became just the fourth freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey鈥檚 top player. He did so as the nation鈥檚 youngest player, too, finishing second with 34 goals and third with 64 points in 38 games.
The 6-foot, 200-pound player from North Vancouver . Celebrini played for the Junior Sharks program after his father, Rick, was hired to be the Golden State Warriors鈥� sports medicine director.
Celebrini was undecided on whether he will return to BU for a second year, but he deepens a talented prospect pool on a Sharks team in the midst of its longest playoff drought, now spanning five years.
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The Chicago Blackhawks took Michigan State defenceman Artyom Levshunov of Belarus with the second pick, with his name announced by Bedard, the No. 1 pick last year. This marked the third draft to have college players to go 1-2, and first since 2021 when Michigan teammates Owen Power and Matty Beniers were chosen first and second.
Levshunov became the fourth overall player from Belarus to be selected in the first round of the NHL draft, and first since first since Montreal took forward Andrei Kostitsyn 10th in 2003. He also became the earliest selected player from Belarus chosen after defenceman Ruslan Salei went ninth to Anaheim in 1996.
The draft was filled with surprise guests 鈥� such as Dion 鈥� who took the podium to announce her hometown Montreal Canadiens taking Russian forward Ivan Demidov at No. 5. And there was at least one surprise pick with the Anaheim Ducks鈥� selection of Oshawa forward Beckett Sennecke at No. 3.
Sennecke could be seen mouthing 鈥淥h, my God,鈥� to his father upon hearing former Ducks star Scott Niedermayer announce the pick. Sennecke was ranked 12th among North American players by NHL Central Scouting after finishing with 27 goals and 68 points in 63 games last season in the Ontario Hockey League.
鈥淲ell, I mean, I went third, so I guess that鈥檚 where I went. I鈥檓 not going to speculate on where I thought,鈥� Sennecke said, when asked when he thought he might go. 鈥淚 just said, `Oh, my God. Oh, my God.鈥� And to my mom, I said, `Oh, my God. Oh, my God.鈥� And then I saw my mom and my sister and they all started crying so, yeah, pretty emotional.鈥�
Columbus followed by selecting Medicine Hat centre Cayden Lindstrom at No. 4.
Utah, which relocated form Arizona to Salt Lake City, two months ago selected Iginla, in ending any chance of Calgary landing the son of their former star at No. 9.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so unpredictable,鈥� said Jarome Iginla who was selected 11th overall by Dallas in the 1995 draft before being traded months later to Calgary. 鈥淓very city鈥檚 a great city, but Utah, we鈥檙e excited. 鈥� We鈥檙e very happy for him. He鈥檚 worked hard, and it鈥檚 a big day.鈥�
The Iginla鈥檚 become the sixth father-son duo taken in the top 15 of the draft.
Four defencemen were selected among the top 10 picks 鈥� capped by the New Jersey Devils picking Russia鈥檚 Anton Silayev, who is listed at 6-foot-7, and 211 pounds . And six blueliners went among the top 12, after Minnesota traded into the 12th spot to draft University of Denver defenseman Zeev Buium.
Celebrini鈥檚 selection was announced by former Sharks star Joe Thornton 鈥� drafted No. 1 by Boston in 1997. Thornton opened by saying, 鈥淭he San Jose Sharks are proud to select from Boston University,鈥� before briefly pausing with a smile, and then said Celebrini鈥檚 name and pointing to him in the stands.
The draft featured the added spectacle of being held at the year-old Sphere, a globe-shaped venue over-looking the Las Vegas strip and featuring video screens on the inside and outside of its structure.
The 32 teams were gathered at tables beneath the wrap-around screen covering almost three-quarters of the curved wall broadcasting scenes from the draft to the crowd overlooking the floor and seated the multi-deck facility. The draft opened with the screen featuring pictures of more than 100 of the eligible prospects.
A small stage was erected in the middle of the floor, where Commissioner Gary Bettman was joined by teams to announce the selections.
Celebrini failed to register a point in just six games at BU. His production accelerated over the second half of the season by combining for 22 goals and 39 points in his final 17 games in helping the Terriers reach the Frozen Four, which they lost in the semifinal to eventual champion Denver.
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An NHL Central Scouting report referred to him as being 鈥渁 strong skater with fluid stride, elusive speed and quickness. 鈥� The go-to for one-timers on the power play. Plays a heads-up complete game.鈥�
Whenever Celebrini turns pro upon consulting with his family, the Sharks and BU, he鈥檒l join a Sharks鈥� youth movement that includes their two first-round picks last year, forwards Will Smith and OHL forward Quentin Musty. Then there鈥檚 the Swedish duo of Filip Bystedt, San Jose鈥檚 2022 first-round pick, who made his minor-league debut last season, and William Eklund, who has 18 goals and 52 points in 97 NHL games since being drafted seventh in 鈥�21.
鈥淗aving the first overall pick, it鈥檚 a big moment for the organization, to have someone hopefully that can be a big part of our core and play here for a long, long time,鈥� third-year GM Mike Grier said earlier this week.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely doing a good job of laying (the foundation). I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 finishing the foundation,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely an important time, an important draft, but we still got some work to do to kind of round things out and keep building up the prospect pool.鈥�
鈥� Will be updated
John Wawrow, The Associated Press
