NHL-worst Sharks win lottery, right to choose No. 1
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
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
6. Utah
11. Buffalo Sabres
13. Minnesota Wild
14. San Jose Sharks (from Pittsburgh)
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.
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is set.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He was followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brent Rooker of the Athletics and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.
On Friday, however, Acuna was replaced by teammate Matt Olson.
With all the entrants announced, let’s break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 434 feet
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
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