The Athletic has live coverage of the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery
The 2024 NHL Draft Lottery takes place tonight, with the winner earning the opportunity to select Boston University center Macklin Celebrini.
Celebrini, 17, recently won the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey. He’s a dynamic offensive player with excellent two-way abilities.
GO DEEPERHow does Macklin Celebrini compare to recent No. 1 NHL Draft picks? Scouts, execs weigh inSo what’s really at stake at the NHL Draft Lottery? Here’s everything you need to know.
What Macklin Celebrini will bring to the team that wins the No. 1 pick
In a survey of NHL scouts and executives comparing Celebrini to the last nine first-overall picks at the time they were drafted, Celebrini ranked fifth.
Is he going to single-handedly turn an organization’s future around? My lean would be no, and that was the opinion of most of the scouts I talked to. But Celebrini could potentially be a massive part of it and if he hits, he could be a cornerstone piece for a contending team.
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“Jack Hughes will get his points, more likely than Celebrini at his peak, but I’d prefer a player like Celebrini in a playoff series,” said one NHL scout during the survey.
Whoever gets Celebrini can potentially pencil in their No. 1 center for the next decade. If a team like Anaheim, Chicago or San Jose ends up picking him, they get to be in the envious position of having several elite young center prospects and all of a sudden their rebuilds are cooking with gas.
What will the draft order look like after Celebrini?
After Celebrini, who goes No. 2 is unclear. There is no consensus second-best prospect. So what then is the reward for winning the second pick in the lottery?
“Even if there’s no clear option, there is a group of players. Picking first among the group means you get to prioritize the type of player you want,” said one scouting director. “If you want to get big and fast, there’s big, talented defensem*n or Cayden Lindstrom up front. If you want skill, there are very skilled forwards and defenders. If you pick towards the end of the group, you may still get a great player, but you may be forced into taking a type of player you’re uncomfortable with.”
Even without a surefire pick for No. 2 overall, there are favorites. Inside the NHL the betting favorites currently are either Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov or Torpedo defenseman Anton Silayev. Levshunov is 6-foot-2, mobile, and has a ton of natural offense in his game. Silayev is 6-foot-7, skates very well for a giant, is very physical and has potential first pass NHL offense.
Although the league thinks Levshunov and Silayev are the likeliest scenario to go 2-3 in some order in the draft, they do not have majority support in those spots. In discussions with NHL scouts this spring, Zeev Buium (defense, Denver), Berkly Catton (center, Spokane), Ivan Demidov (wing, SKA), Sam Dickinson (defense, London), Cayden Lindstrom (center, Medicine Hat), Zayne Parekh (defense, Saginaw) and Carter Yakemchuk (defense, Calgary) all at least got one vote by a scout as a potential top three player in the draft.
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“Usually around this time of year you can try and do internal mock draft projections of how the first few picks go, but not this year,” said an NHL executive. “It’s really going to depend on who wins the No. 2 pick, how the draft order plays out, and what those organizations prefer.”
Teams within the league believe that the top-ranked defensem*n in this year’s draft class can be No. 1 defensem*n in the NHL, which means that if a team selects a top defenseman, it’s possible that they are projecting him to be their future No. 1D. And of course, if they are correct in their projection, it’s a massive boost to the organization. So while it’s possible a forward will be the second pick, in a very defense-heavy class it’s likely the second-overall pick will be a defenseman. Which defenseman it is exactly is to be determined.
So while the story of lottery night will be which team will very likely be selecting Celebrini, the trajectory of the draft and the subject of much debate for weeks to come will be more set by the team picking second.
NHL Draft Lottery rules and odds
The NHL Draft lottery will determine the order of the first 16 picks at this year’s draft.
There will be two lottery draws, which will determine the teams selecting first and second overall. Teams can move up no more than 10 spots, which means that only 11 teams have a chance to win the No. 1 pick.
No team can win a lottery draw more than twice in a five-year period. This means that if the Chicago Blackhawks win again this year, they won’t be eligible to move up in the draft lottery again until after the 2027-28 season.
Draft Lottery odds of winning No. 1 pick
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
25.5 percent | |
13.5 percent | |
11.5 percent | |
9.5 percent | |
8.5 percent | |
7.5 percent | |
6.5 percent | |
6.0 percent | |
5.0 percent | |
3.5 percent | |
3.0 percent |
How to watch the NHL Draft Lottery
The 2024 NHL Draft Lottery will be broadcast on ESPN, Sportsnet and TVA Sports. The lottery will take place at 6:30 p.m. ET.
(Photo: Richard T Gagnon / Getty Images)
Corey Pronman is the senior NHL prospects writer for The Athletic. Previously, Corey worked in a similar role at ESPN. Follow Corey on Twitter @coreypronman
