SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks had some luck during Monday’s NHL Draft Lottery. But not as much as they wanted.
For the second straight year, the Sharks had the best chance to win the lottery and earn the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL Draft. Instead, the Sharks will have the second overall pick, which will be held in Los Angeles in June.
“We’re excited. We’re getting a good player,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said after the lottery. “Whenever you’re picking at the top of the draft, there’s going to be some really good players available.”
The New York Islanders, who had a 3.5% chance compared to San Jose’s 18.5%, won the lottery during a live broadcast from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, N.J., and now own the first overall selection.
The Utah Hockey Club won the second lottery draw. But since Utah, which finished 14th to last in the NHL standings, was not eligible for the second overall selection, the Sharks moved into that slot. In the lottery, teams can move up a maximum of 10 spots.
Because they finished with the fewest points in the NHL this season, the Sharks’ pick could not be any lower than third overall. The Chicago Blackhawks have the No. 3 pick.
“It didn’t matter where we were going to pick, really,” Grier said when asked if picking second changes the Sharks’ approach. “We have our process. We’ll get our list together, rank everyone, and put them in order, how we see the player.”
The Sharks, who have finished with the league’s worst record for two straight seasons, won the draft lottery last year. During a glitzy presentation at the NHL Draft in Las Vegas, Sharks legend Joe Thornton announced that the team was taking Boston University center Macklin Celebrini with the first overall selection.
Celebrini was named a finalist for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year during Monday’s broadcast after he led the Sharks and was tied for second among all first-year players with 63 points. Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson and Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, a Gilroy native, are the other finalists.
“(Celebrini) exceeded my expectations for him, and probably even some of his teammates,” Grier said. “I thought he carried the load for us, which is tough for an 18-year-old. He drove the group forward and had to play tough matchups every night.”
Widely considered the best player available in this year’s draft is 17-year-old defenseman Matthew Schaefer of the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Schaefer had 22 points in 17 games with Erie this season and was playing for Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championships in December when he suffered a broken clavicle, an injury that would end his season.
The Sharks have drafted some high-end forwards in recent years and adding a puck-moving defenseman like Schaefer would have been the ideal complement to Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, and Collin Graf.
Still, the Sharks are confident they’ll get an impactful player. The list they’ll choose from includes forwards Michael Misa of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, Boston College’s James Hagens, and Sweden’s Anton Frondell.
The Sharks are familiar with Misa, who played with Chernyshov in Saginaw for half a season and became the OHL’s top regular-season scorer with 134 points in 65 games. While Misa can be a distributor, he became an elite shooter this season with 62 goals.
“Plays a good 200-foot game, has a heavy stick, sees the ice swell, can make plays,” Grier said of Misa. “He played in all situations and kind of has a knack for scoring goals. A really, really solid year this year.”
Stil, Grier said last month — and reiterated Monday — that he’s open to trading his top pick if the right deal comes.
“I always have to be open to anything that we think can make us a better hockey team and a better organization,” Grier said. “If there’s a package out there that someone presents us with, we’ll have to think it through and see if it makes sense for us. I’m always trying to be open-minded to things like that.”
Monday also marked the first time viewers could watch as the lottery balls were drawn in-studio on live TV.
In past years, the NHL held the lottery in a separate room before the broadcast. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman presided over the draw, which was overseen by accounting firm Ernst & Young and observed by the media. Bill Daly, the NHL’s deputy commissioner, then revealed the selection order on the broadcast, flipping cards with team logos to count down to one.
On Monday, after each ping-pong balls was drawn, viewers could see which teams were still alive and what percentage they had to win.
“It was fine. It’s more for the fans, and I guess we’ll see how their reaction is,” Grier said of the format. “I think maybe the fans enjoyed having some drama and seeing it happen live. Kind of taking some of the back room history out of it, and see it happen live is probably good for the fans.”