Every year, the NHL draft lottery brings chaotic energy to hockey fans as their favorite teams get their first ounce of hope in the off-season.
Fans envision what their team might look like with the next NHL star on their roster. This year, that star is Macklin Celebrini, a center who played for Boston University this season.
The 2024 draft lottery is scheduled for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET, just before the NHL’s playoff action for the day.
The NHL does a lottery for first and second overall, and teams can only move up 10 slots. The lottery odds are as listed below, with the odds at No. 1 overall in brackets:
- San Jose Sharks: 18.5 percent (25.5 percent)
- Chicago Blackhawks: 13.5 percent (13.5 percent)
- Anaheim Ducks: 11.5 percent (11.5 percent)
- Columbus Blue Jackets: 9.5 percent (9.5 percent)
- Montreal Canadiens: 8.5 percent (8.5 percent)
- Utah: 7.5 percent (7.5 percent)
- Ottawa Senators: 6.5 percent (6.5 percent)
- Seattle Kraken: 6.0 percent (6.0 percent)
- Calgary Flames: 5.0 percent (5.0 percent)
- New Jersey Devils: 3.5 percent (3.5 percent)
- Buffalo Sabres: 3.0 percent (3.0 percent)
- Philadelphia Flyers: 2.5 percent (0 percent)
- Minnesota Wild: 2.0 percent (0 percent)
- San Jose via Pittsburgh Penguins: 1.5 percent (0 percent)
- Detroit Red Wings: 0.5 percent (0 percent)
- St. Louis Blues: 0.5 percent (0 percent)
The Hockey News ran a lottery simulation on tankathon.com, and the results saw two teams move up.
The Montreal Canadiens secured the first overall pick, and the new Utah NHL team, which replaces the Arizona Coyotes, got the second overall pick.
Montreal last drafted first overall in 2021 when they selected Slovak power forward Juraj Slafkovsky, who had a coming-out party in the second half of this season and reached the 50-point plateau for the first time.
The Canadiens having the chance to select Celebrini would give them a stress-free draft day after a couple of years, with fans wanting one player but management taking a different one. While we will need to see how those decisions work out in the coming years, having Celebrini fall into their laps makes this year’s decision an easy one.
Montreal would get a franchise center and a cornerstone piece to build around with a talented forward group led by captain Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Slafkovsky. With plenty of talent coming on the blueline, Celebrini might be the piece that begins the Canadiens’ ascent back to competitive hockey.
Related: Juraj Slafkovsky Broke Out for Canadiens This Season
The fun of the simulation starts at second overall with Utah.
While the Coyotes (and original Winnipeg Jets) franchise records stay in Arizona whether or not they get a new team, the franchise has drafted second overall once in its history – in 1980 when the Jets selected defenseman Wayne Babych.
This will be the first draft in Utah’s franchise history. It could help establish a foundation with the young talent the incoming team already boasts, such as Logan Cooley, Dmitriy Simashev, Daniil But and Conor Geekie.
The options at second overall are plenty, with scouts and analysts divided on who could be the best player at second overall.
Is it Ivan Demidov, the uber-skilled Russian winger who has a highlight reel as impressive as anyone in the draft class?
Could it be massive center Cayden Lindstrom of the WHL, who has all the physical tools you could ask for from a franchise pivot?
Artyom Levshunov was incredible in the NCAA this season and could be a key fixture on the blueline in the future. Russian defender Anton Silayev is a unicorn because he stands 6-foot-7 and skates like the wind. Center Berkly Catton and defenseman Zeev Buium could also be dark horses in the conversation.
It will be up to Utah and GM Bill Armstrong to determine. Everything after that will be just as up in the air, as the group of players from No. 2 to No. 12 is a bit of a mess regarding consensus.
Related: Ferrari’s 2024 NHL Draft Rankings: Top 64 Before the World U-18s
The results of this lottery simulation mean the Sharks, Blackhawks, Ducks and Blue Jackets dropped two spots each in the draft. They would select from third to sixth, respectively.
San Jose is the group’s biggest loser in this simulation. The Sharks haven’t been able to draft the next franchise cornerstone as of yet.
The Hawks, Ducks and Blue Jackets picked the top three, in that order, last season when there were three legitimate franchise centers available in Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson and Adam Fantilli. The Sharks selected Will Smith, who had an incredible NCAA season but isn’t quite on the same level as the others.
This year’s draft class doesn’t boast the same level of talent beyond the expected No. 1 pick, Celebrini. Losing out on the chance to select him could lengthen the Sharks’ rebuild, although even with Celebrini, they would still have much work to do.
In a worst-case scenario, the #SJSharks can fall to the No. 3 pick in the draft. After Macklin Celebrini, picks 2 and 3 have plenty of options. Here are a bunch of players the Sharks can choose from on @TheHockeyNews.⤵️https://t.co/ZHIi64WVm7
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) May 5, 2024
Congratulations to the Montreal Canadians and the new Utah franchise as they have won The Hockey News’ NHL draft lottery. While your reward is simply hypothetical, maybe the good vibes will carry over to real life.
Good luck to all the teams involved. May the hockey gods be kind to you.
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Related: NHL Draft Lottery Day Set: What Are the Odds?
Related: Four Utah Free Agent Targets for This Summer
News Summary:
- THN.com NHL Draft Lottery Simulation: Will Montreal and Utah Win Big in the Real Deal?
- Check all news and articles from the latest NHL updates.