The San Jose Sharks will be drafting Macklin Celebrini first overall this summer after they won their first ever draft lottery yesterday. However, the Hobey Baker and Hockey East rookie of the year may not be making the jump to the NHL right away.
Bruins reporter Jimmy Murphy revealed today following the draft lottery that he has heard noise about both Celebrini and 2022 4th overall pick Will Smith returning to Boston University and Boston College, respectively. Obviously, Murphy has connections with the Boston hockey scene, giving him some credibility with regards to this rumor.
Will Murphy himself seems to be somewhat apologetic about the news, fans themselves are not particularly concerned. After all, the Sharks will likely be among the worst teams in the league again next season, and they have few solid veterans to help guide the rookies and show them what it takes to play in the NHL.
Furthermore, adding Celebrini and Smith would likely make the Sharks a significantly better team next season. Overall, the franchise may be better off keeping them away from the team for another chance at winning the draft lottery next season. Under the new draft rules, a team can improve their position twice in a given five-year period by winning the lottery. This means the Sharks can still win the lottery at least one more time in the next four seasons. However, since they did not technically improve their position this year, they may actually still be eligible to win the lottery two more times in that period. We will have to wait for a clarification from the NHL regarding that rule.
Regardless, the Sharks remain deep in the trenches of a rebuild. They have certainly just won a major battle by winning the draft lottery, but there is still a lot of work to be done to get the team back up to a playoff-caliber franchise.
