NHL draft: San Jose Sharks select Macklin Celebrini with No. 1 pick

LAS VEGAS (AP) Macklin Celebrini was the headliner in the NHL draft by finishing first against the San Jose Sharks on a Friday night, a mixed crowd of hockey and Las Vegas royalty, under the visual spectacle of the Sphere.

French-Canadian singer Celine Dion and veteran boxing commentator Michael Buffer shared the stage with former Sharks star Joe Thornton and rookie of the year Connor Bedard to announce the selections, giving the event a real Vegas vibe.

When Thornton announced the selection of Celebrini, Sharks general manager Mike Grier said it was important to tie the future of his franchise to its successful past.

“We don't have many players left on the team who were there when we were at the top and competing for the Stanley Cup,” Grier said.

As for Dion's performance, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson was so excited that he took a photo of the pop icon and sent it to his mother.

And to top it all off, the newly formed Utah Hockey Club leaned on NHL pedigree when creating Kelowna Downtown Start Working the franchise's first selection with the No. 6 pick. Iginla is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, who spent much of his career in Calgary.

Celebrini will be a starter for the Sharks and his selection came as no surprise after the 18-year-old became just the fourth freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's top player. He also did so as the youngest player in the country and finished second with 34 goals and third with 64 points in 38 games.

The 6-foot, 200-pound player from North Vancouver, British Columbia, already has ties to the Bay Area. Celebrini played for the Junior Sharks program after his father, Rick, was hired as the Golden State Warriors' sports medicine director.

Just a surreal feeling, Celebrini said of becoming the Sharks' first No. 1 overall pick. I've dreamed of this moment since I was a kid, and it's just an amazing feeling to make it come true.

Celebrini was unsure about returning to BU for a second year, but he does increase the chances of a talented player on a Sharks team that is in the midst of its longest playoff drought, now at five years.

Chicago took the Michigan State defender Artyom Levshunov from Belarus at No. 2, with his name announced by Bedard, last year’s No. 1 overall pick. This was the third draft in which college players went 1-2, and the first since 2021 when Michigan teammates Owen Power and Matty Beniers were selected first and second, respectively.

Levshunov was the fourth player from Belarus to be selected in the first round of the NHL draft. He was the first selected, after defenseman Ruslan Salei went ninth overall to Anaheim in 1996.

The draft was filled with surprise guests, with Dion taking the stage to announce her hometown Montreal Canadiens pick, selecting Russian forward Ivan Demidov at No. 5. Buffer, who is from Philadelphia, used his catchphrase Are you ready to rumble as he took the stage to announce that the Flyers selected Ontario Hockey League centre Jett Luchanko at No. 13.

And there were several surprising choicesthe largest with the Anaheim Ducks selection of Oshawa forward Beckett Sennecke at No. 3.

Sennecke could be seen muttering Oh, my God, to his father as he heard former Ducks star Scott Niedermayer announce the pick. Sennecke was ranked 12th among North American players by NHL Central Scouting after finishing last season in the OHL with 27 goals and 68 points in 63 games.

General Manager Pat Verbeek didn't see the players' reaction, noting that the Ducks only interviewed Sennecke once during the pre-draft process despite monitoring him for most of the past year.

He had no idea, Verbeek said. It certainly brings back some very nice memories to see such an authentic reaction.

Columbus then selected Medicine Hat center Cayden Lindstrom at No. 4.

Utah, which moved from Arizona to Salt Lake City, selected Iginla two months ago, ending any chance of Calgary landing the son of their former star at No. 9.

It's so unpredictable, said Jarome Iginla, who was selected 11th overall by Dallas in the 1995 draft before being traded to Calgary months later. “Every city is a great city, but Utah, I was excited. … We're very happy for him. He's worked hard and it's a big day.

The Iginlas are the sixth father-son duo taken in the top 15 of the draft.

Canadians dominated the first-round selections, with 19 drafts, tied for the most since a record 21 in 1987. Only three Americans were drafted, starting with defenseman Zeev Buium of the University of Denver who went 12th to Minnesota. Buium is from San Diego.

The design included the added spectacle of being held in the year-old Sphere, a spherical venue overlooking the Las Vegas Strip and featuring video screens inside and outside the structure.

The 32 teams sat at tables beneath the wraparound screen that took up nearly three-quarters of the curved wall and broadcast scenes from the draft to the sold-out crowd of 14,220 in the multi-deck facility. The draft opened with a screen showing photos of more than 100 of the eligible prospects.

In the center of the room was a small stage, where NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the teams announced the selections.

There were still familiar moments of travel, apart from the glitz and glamour and the 38 degree temperature outside.

Bettman was booed when he took the stage. Vegas fans also booed when Pacific Division rivals took the stage, and cheered when it was the Golden Knights' turn to select center Trevor Connelly at No. 19.

Connelly, ranked sixth by Central Scouting among North American prospects, its shares fell on questions regarding his past. Two years ago, he posted a photo on social media of a friend posing in front of a collection of building blocks in the shape of a swastika. Connelly apologized and did his best through volunteer work and diversity training.

While players like Toronto's Mitch Marner, Columbus' Patrick Laine and the Carolinas' Martin Necas were rumored, the only deals made on the floor were draft selections.

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