Macklin Celebrini set to represent Canada at 2024 IIHF Worlds
Macklin Celebrini is off to conquer Worlds.
Celebrini, the consensus top pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, was one of 22 players named to Team Canada’s roster for the 2024 IIHF World Championship.
Worlds will run from May 10-26 in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia.
Celebrini will be joined by recent first overall picks Connor Bedard and Owen Power on Canada’s entry.
He is coming off a freshman season with Boston University that saw the 17-year-old net 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) in 38 games, and become the youngest ever recipient of the Hobey Baker Award as the top men’s player in NCAA hockey.
Celebrini is the fourth ever freshman to net the award and first since Adam Fantilli — another teammate of Celebrini’s at Worlds — did so last year.
“As a 17-year-old in the NCAA, it would have been easy to see Celebrini get pushed around and willed out of games by older and larger opponents, but that’s not what happened,” FCHockey crossover scout Brandon Holmes said.
“Celebrini was one of the most dominant scorers in college hockey this year, showing a well-rounded dual-threat game that allowed him to put up the highest point total by a U18 NCAA skater since the 1980’s. Celebrini crushed any doubt there was that his game could translate to higher levels of play with more structure and bigger opponents, and showed himself to be a true elite offensive talent.”
Celebrini, who had eight points (four goals, four assists) in five games for Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, will learn his NHL destination later this week.
The 2024 NHL Draft Lottery will be held on Tuesday, May 7 at NHL Network’s Secaucus, N.J., studio, the National Hockey League announced last week.
The San Jose Sharks, by way of the worst winning percentage in the NHL in the 2023-24 season, will have the highest odds at winning the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft Lottery — and the right to select Celebrini.
The Sharks (19-54-9) finished 32nd in the NHL with a 47 points. They will have a 22.5% shot at the No. 1 pick. The Chicago Blackhawks (23-53-6), who finished 31st with 51 points, will have a 13.5% chance at winning. The Blackhawks won the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery, and used the No. 1 pick to select Connor Bedard. Bedard, an expected Calder Trophy finalist as rookie of the year, finished the season with 61 points (22 goals, 39 points) in 67 games.
The Anaheim Ducks (27-50-5) have the third-best odds at the No. 1 pick at 11.5%, and the Columbus Blue Jackets (27-43-12) will have the fourth-best chance at 9.5%. The Montreal Canadiens (30-36-16) have the fifth-best odds at 8.5%, and the Arizona Coyotes (36-41-5), who will relocate to Utah this offseason, have the sixth-best odds at 7.5%.