Sharks select Canadian forward Macklin Celebrini with top pick of 2024 NHL draft

Macklin Celebrini is a member of the San Jose Sharks.

The club did the expected inside Sin City's glitzy Sphere auditorium Friday, selecting the centre from Vancouver with the top pick at the 2024 NHL draft.

Celebrini is coming off a season at Boston University in the NCAA where he collected 32 goals and 64 points in 38 games to become the youngest winner of the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in U.S. college hockey.

The 18-year-old knows Northern California well after the family moved there when his dad, Rick, took a job with the NBA's Golden State Warriors in 2018.

"Once it's official, it's a pretty amazing feeling," Celebrini said. "It's been a dream of mine since I was a little kid."

The Sharks owned the No. 1 pick at the draft for the first time in franchise history. San Jose has selected second on three occasions, with the most recent being Patrick Marleau all the way back in 1997.

The Columbus Blue Jackets took Cayden Lindstrom at No. 4 and the Montreal Canadiens went with Ivan Demidov at No. 5.

Celebrini's busy 2023-24 season included representing Canada at the world junior hockey championship and helping Boston University qualify for the NCAA's Frozen Four tournament.

The Sharks are in full rebuild mode after a long period of sustained success. The team promoted assistant coach Ryan Warsofsky, 36, to the top job behind the bench earlier this month after firing David Quinn on the heels of San Jose's 32nd-place finish.