When the San Jose Sharks are officially on the clock to select first overall at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft on June 28, they will almost certainly choose Boston University forward Macklin Celebrini. Celebrini is an excellent prospect and drafting him has the potential to be a franchise-altering move for San Jose – but it won’t happen overnight. There’s still a long way to go for the team to return to relevance, and adding a single player, however good he may be, can only accelerate their trajectory so much. But the Sharks don’t need to wait until draft day to figure this out. They can look around the sports world and understand how far a top draft pick will take them.
Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks Provide an Example
When the Chicago Blackhawks won the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery, they earned the right to select Connor Bedard, one of the most hyped prospects of the 21st century. Fans and analysts almost immediately began speculating about the impact Bedard would have on the team’s success, and for good reason.
But during his rookie season, the Blackhawks made it clear that a turnaround would take more than one player. Bedard had a very good season, but the Blackhawks still posted the league’s second-worst record, which isn’t surprising — an 18-year-old rookie shouldn’t be expected to carry a franchise — it takes time to build a team. Furthermore, Chicago went 3-10-1 in the 14 games Bedard missed, emphasizing the need for a stronger roster around him.
The main positive for the Blackhawks right now, other than Bedard’s potential, is that their struggles allowed them to land the second pick in this year’s draft, where they can take another good young player to build up their roster. But to return to their championship years in the 2010s, they’ll need several seasons of consistently good player development and personnel moves. Once the Sharks draft Celebrini, they’ll find themselves in the same situation.
Case Studies Expand Beyond NHL
While Bedard and the Blackhawks provide the most direct parallel to the Sharks’ current situation, there are also two concrete examples in the basketball world for the Sharks to note.
The Indiana Fever have experienced unprecedented levels of attention and discussion since drafting Caitlin Clark. She entered the WNBA as the most anticipated rookie of all time after a legendary college career, and while the Fever are the league’s most followed team, that hasn’t translated to on-court results.
Indiana has a 3-10 record, second-worst in the WNBA, and the fifth-worst point differential through 13 games in league history. They have some good players, such as Clark and Aliyah Boston, but the overall construction of the team isn’t capable of contending, and they’ll need to make a lot of improvements to reach the same level as the league’s best.
Related: Macklin Celebrini – 2024 NHL Draft Prospect Profile
In the NBA, we can look at Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Wembanyama was the most scrutinized men’s basketball prospect since LeBron James, and he largely lived up to the hype in his rookie season. He won Rookie of the Year and became the only rookie ever to make the NBA All-Defensive First Team. If he continues on track, he’ll likely be the best player in the league in a few seasons. Yet, despite all of that, the Spurs went 22-60 in 2023-24, the same record as the season before.
The rest of the roster wasn’t good enough to make a meaningful impact, and now, San Antonio’s front office is left with the task of figuring out which players they can bring in to maximize Wembanyama’s potential. Both Wembanyama and Clark demonstrate how one great draft pick doesn’t provide a solution to a team’s problems, even in a sport like basketball where one player can have a greater influence on results than perhaps any other team sport.
In football, the Carolina Panthers are still floundering after taking quarterback Bryce Young first overall in 2023. All of them show the Sharks that after Celebrini arrives in San Jose, they’ll still face a period of struggle, during which time they’ll have to make the right supplementary moves.
Sharks Need Many Steps to Maximize Celebrini
Once the Sharks draft Celebrini, the work will begin. They’ll need to hire the right coaches, add impact players via trades and free agency, use the rest of their draft picks effectively, and continue to develop the young players and prospects they already have in the system. Celebrini might not turn pro immediately, which could be a positive for the Sharks, as it would allow them to improve the team and have a better system around him when he makes his NHL debut.
The Sharks are entering unfamiliar territory, drafting first overall for the first time in franchise history. But, thankfully, they have plenty of examples, both inside and outside of the NHL, that they can use to understand what they’ll have to do to take advantage of the opportunity they’ve been given.
