On June 28, 2024, Macklin Celebrini will (in all likelihood) hear his name called by the San Jose Sharks as the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. The Sharks will have the opportunity to make this pick from the stage at Sphere Las Vegas because it won the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery on Tuesday.
While Celebrini does not have quite the generational talent level of a player like Connor Bedard, he is a high-end, organization-changing player any team would love to have. Celebrini, who played for the Jr. Sharks in 2019-20 while his father worked for the Golden State Warriors, will soon take his talents back to Northern California.
Of local interest, the lottery determined that the Seattle Kraken will be picking No. 8 in the first round. Seattle entered the night with a 6.0 percent chance of landing the top overall section, a 6.2 percent chance of securing the second pick, and a .2 percent chance of ending up at No. 3. Seattle had a 54.4 percent chance of sticking at pick No. 8, while it had a 30.0 percent chance of moving down to pick No. 9 and a 3.2 percent chance of falling to No. 10 overall.
So, picking No. 8 was the most likely outcome for Seattle. We’ll get into the options that could be available to Seattle in that position momentarily.
As it turns out, the lottery did not move any team from its default draft position. San Jose had the best odds of landing the top pick to begin with. But the lottery guaranteed the Sharks will be able to add another building block in Celebrini. Unfortunately, Seattle will have to contend with that in the Pacific Division (along with whoever Anaheim picks at No. 3) for years to come.
Following today’s events, the top half of the 2024 NHL Draft first round will proceed as follows:
- San Jose
- Chicago
- Anaheim
- Columbus
- Montreal
- Utah
- Ottawa
- Seattle
- Calgary
- New Jersey
- Buffalo
- Philadelphia
- Minnesota
- San Jose (from Pittsburgh)
- Detroit
- St. Louis
How the Draft Lottery works
Generally speaking, the NHL Draft is organized so that the teams with worse records get better selections. This year, the Sharks had the league’s worst record, followed by the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and so forth. The default order of each round has the Sharks picking first, followed by the Blackhawks, Ducks, etc.
That said, the order of selections at the top of the first round of the NHL Draft is determined by a lottery system. The sixteen teams that do not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs all have the opportunity to move up from their default selection a maximum of 10 spots in the draft order.
The lottery consists of two drawings of ping pong balls. When a team’s number is drawn in the first drawing, the team moves up 10 spots as far as the first overall pick. For example, if the Ducks had been drawn, Anaheim would have moved to No. 1 overall. However, if Minnesota had been drawn, it would have moved up from No. 13 to No. 3.
The second lottery drawing is a similar process for a move up to and including the second overall pick. If, for example, Montreal were drawn, it would have moved up from its No. 5 default slot to No. 2. St. Louis, if selected, would have moved from No. 16 to No. 6.
The NHL held the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery Tuesday afternoon in a small 12-by-24-foot conference room at NHL Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. The results were later broadcast on NHL Network and ESPN.
Worse teams not only have a higher default pick, but also higher odds of winning the lottery. Tankathon compiled the pre-draft odds of each team landing at any particular pick as follows:
As noted above, Seattle entered the night with the No. 8 pick, had a 12.4 percent chance of moving up, and a 33.2 percent chance of sliding back. As we now know, Seattle stuck at pick No. 8.
What could Seattle do with the No. 8 pick?
In February, we published our 2024 Sound Of Hockey Big Board (mid-season edition). It was a composite ranking of 2024 NHL Draft-eligible prospects based on reputable draft analyst and public scouting service lists. Since that time, some “final” draft lists have started to emerge, including Central Scouting’s final rankings. There is also a new TSN list based on Bob McKenzie’s survey of league sources.
Based on all of that information, here are a few names that stand out to us that may be available to Seattle at pick No. 8, should the team ultimately make that pick.
Tij Iginla
Player profile: Forward | 6’0″ | 185 lbs | left shot | Canada
Team: Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
Statistics: 47 goals | 37 assists | 64 games | 1.31 PPG | 18.3 NHLe (Chatel)
Notes: Son of former NHL player Jarome Iginla; played for Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) from 2021-23; No. 16 on the mid-season Sound Of Hockey Big Board.
Video: Iginla is No. 11 in white in the video below
Zeev Buium
Player profile: Defense | 6’0″ | 183 lbs | left shot | USA
Team: Univ. of Denver (NCAA)
Statistics: 11 goals | 39 assists | 42 games | 1.19 PPG | 25.37 NHLe (Chatel)
Notes: Most points by a first-time draft-eligible NCAA defenseman ever; five points in seven 2024 World Junior Championship games; No. 11 on mid-season Sound Of Hockey Big Board.
Video: Buium is No. 28 in white in the video below
Zayne Parekh
Player profile: Defense | 6’0″ | 181 lbs | right shot | Canada
Team: Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
Statistics: 33 goals | 63 assists | 66 games | 1.45 PPG | 24.97 NHLe (Chatel)
Notes: Most points by a first-time draft-eligible CHL defenseman since 1989-90. No. 10 on the mid-season Sound Of Hockey Big Board.
Video: Parekh is No. 19 in blue in the video below.
Konsta Helenius
Player profile: Center | 5’11” | 181 lbs | right shot | Finland
Team: Jukurit (Liiga)
Statistics: 14 goals | 22 assists | 51 games | .71 PPG | 27.75 NHLe (Chatel)
Notes: T-12th in Liiga all-time in points in a season by an under-18 player. Played at 2024 World Junior Championship, scoring two points. No. 9 on the mid-season Sound Of Hockey Big Board.
Video: Helenius is No. 91 in yellow in the video below
Berkly Catton
Player profile: Forward | 5’11” | 163 lbs | left shot | Canada
Team: Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
Statistics: 54 goals | 62 assists | 68 games | 1.71 PPG | 23.8 NHLe (Chatel)
Notes: Leading under-18 scorer in the entire CHL in 2023-24; leading scorer for the Spokane Chiefs; No. 8 on the mid-season Sound Of Hockey Big Board.
Video: Catton is No. 27 in white in the video below
Cole Eiserman
Player profile: Forward | 6’0″ | 196 lbs | left shot | USA
Team: U.S. National U18 Team (USHL)
Statistics: 49 goals | 27 assists | 49 games | 1.55 PPG | 20.9 NHLe (Chatel)
Notes: Leading scorer on the U.S. National Team Development Program in 2023-24; leading goal scorer for the Program all-time; No. 6 on the mid-season Sound Of Hockey Big Board.
Video: Eiserman is No. 34 in white in the video below.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.