Tuesday’s Draft Lottery is the Celebrini sweepstakes

Go ahead and call Tuesday's NHL Draft Lottery the Macklin Celebrini sweepstakes. 

The 17-year-old Boston University star in the consensus top prospect for the 2024 draft, with all 10 NHL team scouts surveyed in the past week by TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie placing him atop their rankings.

The San Jose Sharks have the best odds of landing the young Canadian centre on Tuesday, entering with a 25.5 per cent chance. The Chicago Blackhawks, who moved up two spots to draft fellow Vancouver product Connor Bedard last spring, are second with a 13.5 per cent. The Anaheim Ducks have an 11.5 per cent chance of securing the first-overall pick, followed by the Columbus Blue Jackets at 9.5 per cent.

The Montreal Canadiens have the best chance of any Canadian team, at 8.5 per cent, with the Ottawa Senators owning 6.5 per cent likelihood and the Calgary Flames with a 5 per cent shot. 

Celebrini pulled out of the world hockey championship for Canada on Tuesday, meaning he will end his season without team hardware. He had four goals and eight points in five games at the World Juniors earlier this year, but went home empty-handed as Canada lost 3-2 to Czechia in the quarter-finals. 

Boston University was eliminated in the semifinals of the Frozen Four last month in what could prove to Celebrini's last collegiate game, After posting 32 goals and 64 points in 38 games with the Terriers, Celebrini was named the recipient of the Hobey Baker Award as the nation's top NCAA men's hockey player and was named the NCAA's Hockey East player and rookie of the year. 

“When I watch Macklin play, the word that comes to mind is command, his command of the game,” TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button said last month. “The maturity he possesses as a 17-year-old shouldn’t belong to a 17-year-old.

“His command at 17 years of age, it’s rare. It’s not unprecedented because I saw the same thing from [Sidney] Crosby, [Jonathan] Toews. This is a rare player.”

Celebrini appears set to be the fourth Canadian selected first overall in the past five years, joining Bedard, Owen Power and Alexis Lafreniere. The run has followed after the country went through a four-year drought for the first time in league history from 2016-2019.

As McKenzie wrote Monday, there is no consensus second overall pick, with potentially six different prospects in play with six weeks left before the draft. Button will take his best crack at the predicting the order of selections with his first 2024 NHL Mock Draft being posted on TSN.ca shortly after the lottery results are revealed.