LAS VEGAS — Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb was asked Tuesday if he could imagine not having Jonathan Marchessault in the club’s locker room next season.

“No,” he said succinctly, letting that word hang in the air before fully answering the question two days after the Golden Knights were eliminated in the first round of the NHL playoffs by Dallas.

McNabb, who was sitting next to Marchessault, could’ve stopped at no. His short initial answer more than conveyed the feelings among teammates regarding a player who epitomizes what it means to be a “Golden Misfit,” the name the original Golden Knights bestowed on themselves.

Marchessault, who went from undrafted to the Conn Smythe Trophy winner last year as the playoff MVP, is one of just five players remaining from that 2017-18 team. The winger is an unrestricted free agent who just put together his finest season of 42 goals, only one shy of William Karlsson‘s team record.

“I’ve done everything I can to stay here,” Marchessault said. “I know I’m a big part of that organization. I’ve proved it along the years. I would love to stay. It’s my home. I’ve been part of the guys that we started this with. It’s the most proud thing I’ve done in my life, professionally for sure. I’m happy to be a Golden Knight. I would like to be the rest of my life, but it’s not necessarily in my control.”

Marchessault said he spoke with general manager Kelly McCrimmon earlier Tuesday and the general manager told him he would like to bring him back. McCrimmon and coach Bruce Cassidy were scheduled to meet with reporters later Tuesday.

“It depends if this is important to them or not,” Marchessault said of whether a deal gets done. “I want to be in an organization that wants me. I have a couple of years left. I don’t play it for fun. I play it because I want to win. I want to be in a place that’s going to help me win.”

Whether the 33-year-old Marchessault returns is not the only significant offseason story facing the Golden Knights.

Forward William Carrier is another “misfit” who’s an unrestricted free agent, and the Golden Knights also have to make decisions on UFAs Chandler Stephenson, Michael Amadio and Anthony Mantha at forward and Alec Martinez on defense.

Mantha was one of three trade-deadline acquisitions, but his future appears shaky with the Golden Knights after he was healthy scratched during part of the playoffs. Carrier, Stephenson and Martinez would represent a true turning of the page if they don’t return, given Vegas parted ways with only Reilly Smith among the regulars after last year’s Cup run.

The next few months will determine what kind of team Vegas puts on the ice next season, and the Golden Knights have never shied away from taking big swings.

They lost a 2-0 series lead to the Stars and fell in seven games, ending their chances to repeat as champions — a loss the players are still processing.

“I’ll probably take a week or so, but then I’ll start watching the playoffs again,” goaltender Adin Hill said. “It’s kind of hard seeing teams out there that we feel like we were better than if we got to our game. I’m not going to make any excuses, but I never felt like we got to where our game can be. Last year, we saw what we can do in this locker room. I think you can argue we might’ve had a better team on paper this year.”

The Golden Knights were in an even worse place two years ago when they missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Coming up short fueled winning the championship a year later.

Vegas can use this early postseason exit in a similar way.

“I think it should fuel all of us,” center Jack Eichel said. “There’s only one team that’s satisfied at the end of the year. We happened to be that team last year.”

SECAUCUS, N.J. — Macklin Celebrini watched NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly slowly flip the placard to reveal that the San Jose Sharks had secured the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft lottery Tuesday night.

“My heart was beating. You can’t really prepare for it. It’s so unique, so special,” said Celebrini, the Boston University star who is expected to be the first overall pick in the NHL draft, set for The Sphere in Las Vegas in June. “It was excitement and, really, a little anxious.”

The Sharks finished last in the overall standings (19-54-9) and retained their position in the lottery. San Jose had an 18.5% chance to win the lottery and a 25.5% chance to pick first.

The lottery proved anticlimactic with no changes to the draft order this season. The Chicago Blackhawks, who selected center Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick last year, retained the No. 2 selection, followed by the Anaheim Ducks at No. 3.

Sharks general manager Mike Grier indicated that his team would select Celebrini with the first overall pick.

“I would think so,” he said. “It wasn’t an easy year, but this was a real nice prize for us.”

Celebrini, a Vancouver native, has ties to the Bay Area. He is the son of Rick Celebrini, the Golden State Warriors director of sports medicine and performance. Macklin lived in the San Jose area and played for the San Jose Junior Sharks 14U AAA team.

Celebrini, 17, was a freshman at Boston University last season. He won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s top men’s hockey player and could become the first player to win that award and then go first overall in the NHL draft. He said he’ll make the decision to either return to BU or play in the NHL next season after the draft.

Grier said the Sharks will speak with Celebrini and his family to see what his intentions are but that the center has “the ability to play” in the NHL immediately.

Celebrini said he spoke with Bedard and other top prospects who were drafted to rebuilding teams like the Sharks. “It’s a unique situation just going into that,” he said. “But it’s kind of cool building something special there.”

The NHL draft was held at the NHL Network studios. There were 19 people in a small, windowless room, including three media observers. A video screen displayed each team’s odds for the first overall pick. In front of the screen was a lottery machine attached to a hand-held control operated by Will Markham, a machine technician.

Balls numbering one through 14 were loaded into the machine one by one. Commissioner Gary Bettman addressed the room with a lengthy explanation of the draft lottery rules and explained the drawing process: A four-number combination that was randomly assigned to one of the 14 teams in the lottery would be drawn. In total, there were 1,001 possible combinations. The teams were allotted a number of combinations based on their lottery odds.

With an NHL camera rolling, Bettman held up his phone to show the lottery started at 5:38 p.m. ET. He held up that day’s copies of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times front pages to certify the date.

There were two lottery draws, one for the first overall pick and one for the second selection. The balls were drawn every 20 seconds, with an NHL employee shouting “draw!” at the end of each interval.

The first number combination was 10-2-7-11, in order, drawn at 5:50 p.m.

Scott Clarke of Ernst and Young confirmed that the Sharks owned that combination.

The drawing for the second overall pick was 2-8-4-11. The winner was the Sharks, meaning it had to be redrawn. The redraw was 14-11-3-9. Again, the winner was the Sharks.

“We’ve never had a redraw before and now we have two,” said Bettman, glancing at Markham. “I hope your finger isn’t getting tired.”

The fourth drawing was 6-11-3-14. Clarke confirmed that combination belonged to the Blackhawks, meaning the two teams with the best lottery odds ended up with the top two picks.

As Bettman left the room, NHL employees began securing team logos to placards with the NHL shield on them. They were transported to the TV studio to be revealed live on the air by Daly.

Celebrini took part in the live TV broadcast of the draft and was on camera when Daly revealed the Sharks had won it. The NHL prospect said he received advice about how to react to the revelation of the first overall pick.

“Just a little heads up from everyone, just how to react,” Celebrini said. “Obviously, it’s live.”

Part of that advice was a cautionary tale: That time in 2015 when presumed first overall pick Connor McDavid became an instant meme for his stunned reaction to the Edmonton Oilers winning the lottery.

“Yeah, that’s what everyone brought up to me,” Celebrini said. “He had a unique experience.”

The order of selection for the first 16 picks of the first round:

1. San Jose Sharks

2. Chicago Blackhawks

3. Anaheim Ducks

4. Columbus Blue Jackets

5. Montreal Canadiens

6. Utah

7. Ottawa Senators

8. Seattle Kraken

9. Calgary Flames

10. New Jersey Devils

11. Buffalo Sabres

12. Philadelphia Flyers

13. Minnesota Wild

14. San Jose Sharks (from Pittsburgh)

15. Detroit Red Wings

16. St. Louis Blues

The NHL draft will be held at The Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28-29. It marks the first time the draft will be held in Las Vegas and the first event televised live from The Sphere.

Edmonton Oilers forward Adam Henrique is dealing with a lower-body injury and is not expected to play in Game 1 of the Western Conference second-round playoff series against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.

Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said Henrique did not skate with the team Tuesday and is considered “day-to-day.”

Mattias Janmark will likely replace Henrique on Edmonton’s top line for the start of the best-of-seven series.

Henrique, 34, had a goal and an assist in the first round vs. the Los Angeles Kings. During the regular season, he had 51 points (24 goals, 27 assists) between the Oilers and Anaheim Ducks.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.