Comments / New

San Jose Sharks win draft lottery

Posted on by Erika Towne

The lottery balls have spoken and the San Jose Sharks will select first in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. That’s right, the hockey gods have smiled on San Jose.

Look how pretty that Sharks logo looks on the number one card! While 25.5% was the best odds to win the first overall pick. It’s also only a one in four chance, give or take a few decimal points. We just happened to luck into the one.

What’s possibly more interesting is that nothing in the draft order changed. Thanks Elliotte Friedman for that little tidbit.

For the first time since 2010, how a team finished directly correlated to where it will draft at the end of June.

So, this is what the final draft board will look like.

Barring any trades, the Sharks will have picks number 1 and 14 in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Who will the Sharks pick at #1?

For those of you that haven’t been following the hockey prospects up until today, every single person asked has put Macklin Celebrini on their list for the number one overall pick. The San Jose Sharks are going to pick Celebrini. No other draftee comes close to him in terms of skill set and hockey IQ.

Fear the Fin will break down what we know about Celebrini in the lead up to the draft, but what you need to know now is that he’s an elite center with the talent to be the number one guy for a team for a very, very long time. He’s also a strong two-way player, so look for lots of goals and solid defensive play.

What’s more, the Bay Area ties are there. His dad, Rick Celebrini, still works with the Golden State Warriors, so his parents live in the Bay Area. The younger Celebrini played a season with the Junior Sharks before moving to the East Coast to play. He’s familiar with the area, which definitely can’t hurt.

Get ready to see a lot of this kid in the coming years.

Why do the Sharks also have the 14th overall pick?

You may have noticed the Sharks also listed as picking 14th overall. That’s because the team also has the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round pick because of the Erik Karlsson trade. This draft is defense-heavy, as in a lot of quality picks on defense. That said, teams have different needs and sitting at 14th overall is a good position for the Sharks.

The team will not get a top defensive prospect like Artyom Levshunov, but there are plenty more to choose from. Any one of them could fall down the draft rankings and allow the Sharks to scoop them up at 14th.

What’s more, adding another top forward wouldn’t hurt the Sharks either. The Sporting News has Tig Iginla, son of former Calgary Flames player Jerome Iginla at 14th on its draft board. Iginla had a breakout season with Kelowna in the WHL and plays the game with an edge.

The point is, there are still options at 14th overall, which is good news for the Sharks’ prospect pool.

Congrats, Sharks fans! It was the best win of the season.

fear the fin logoAs many of you know, Fear the Fin is an independent site run by Sharks fans for Sharks fans. Help keep Fear the Fin independent by contributing to our GoFundMe or buying merchandise. Proceeds help us pay our writers and fund subscriptions to our favorite analytics sites.

Looking for an easy way to support FearTheFin? Use our Affiliate Link when shopping hockey merch this holiday season!

Talking Points