The ducks will have a top-three pick in the NHL draft for the third time in four seasons. The San Jose Sharks will go first in next month’s draft for the first time in team history, followed by the Chicago Blackhawks.
Boston University forward Macklin Celebrini He is generally expected to be the top player selected. Celebrini, a 17-year-old freshman, won the Hobey Baker Award this year, making him the youngest player to be selected as the best player in college hockey. No reigning Baker Award winner has been selected first in the NHL draft.
The Ducks (27-50-5) had the third-worst record in the NHL this season and were one of 11 teams lucky enough to land the first overall pick in Tuesday’s draft. The team has missed the playoffs in each of the last six seasons, the longest playoff drought in franchise history.
“While it is disappointing not to win the lottery, we remain in a position to sign one of the best players available and add to our strong young core of young players already in the NHL,” said Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek in a statement. .
The Ducks have never had the first pick in the annual hockey draft, but last summer they took the second pick, using that selection on forward Leo Carlsson. The Swedish teenager had a solid rookie season, scoring 12 times and adding 17 assists in 55 games.
The Ducks also had the second pick in 2005 and 1994, using those selections on Bobby Ryan and Oleg Tverdovsky, and the third pick in 2021. That year, they drafted 21-year-old Mason McTavish, who scored 19 goals and 23 assists in 64 games this season. . The Ducks entered last season with the fourth-youngest roster in the NHL, with players averaging 26.7 years old.
After Celebrini, the most promising players in a deep draft class are two offensive-minded teenage defensemen, Artyom Levshunov, 18, a Belarusian playing at Michigan State, and Zayne Parekh, 18, who had 96 points in 66 games for Saginaw in the Ontario Hockey League.
This summer’s seven-round draft is scheduled for June 28-29 at the Sphere Music and Entertainment Arena in Las Vegas.
