SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks had a little bit of 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 come away with the No. 1 overall selection in June’s NHL Draft. Instead, the Sharks will have the second overall pick for the draft, which is being held in Los Angeles.
The New York Islanders, who had a 3.5% chance, won the lottery during a live broadcast from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, N.J., and will select first overall.
The Utah Hockey Club won the second lottery draw. But since Utah was not eligible for the second overall selection, the Sharks moved into that spot.
The Sharks had a 25.5% chance of winning. They owned 185 of the 1,000 possible four-digit combinations, and would have also won the lottery if Calgary, Vancouver, Utah, Columbus or Detroit, whose combined chance of winning was 7%, had one of its combinations pop up in the first draw.
Because they finished with the fewest points in the NHL this season, the Sharks’ pick could not be any lower than third overall.
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.
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.
An elite puck-mover and a creative and gifted playmaker, the left-shot Schaefer, listed at 6-foot-2 and 183 pounds, is crafty enough to be a one-man breakout and sturdy and competitive enough to be a solid defender.
Schaefer would have been a terrific addition to the Sharks, who have drafted some high-end forwards in recent years and could use a puck-moving defenseman to complement players such as Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, and Collin Graf, and other recent draft picks such as forwards Quentin Musty and Igor Chernyshov.
Still, the Sharks are confident they can find 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. Sharks general manager Mike Grier said last month that he’s open to trading his top pick if the right deal comes.
“I’m a little curious to see the results of the NHL Draft Lottery,” Hagens told NHL.com. “I know that you don’t choose where you go, so you just have to be grateful that you’re in a position to get drafted, so I’m excited. But we’ll see. I think the draft lottery is a cool way for the fans to kind of get pumped up for the draft, so it’ll be fun.”
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 three ping-pong balls were drawn, viewers could see which teams were still alive and what number they needed to win.
