NHL Draft Lottery Odds: Who Will Celebrate Celebrini?

While many are enjoying the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and others are dissecting what went around in the first round, those whose teams never made it into the dance at all have their eyes peeled on a new hope for their organizations this year – the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery. On Tuesday evening, 16 teams get to see if their long-term outlooks get a kick start from a machine of lottery balls, with 11 teams in the mix to land the top pick in this year’s Entry Draft.

All Eyes On Macklin Celebrini

The crown jewel that these teams are hoping for, without a doubt, is Canadian centre Macklin Celebrini. Usually, at this time of year, there’s at least an attempt at causing a debate at the top of the draft, be it because of second-guessing, an attempt to draw in traffic, or an actual multi-horse race. This year, there’s no question. Of the 17 services and experts that EliteProspects aggregates on their platform, all 17 have the Vancouver native at the top of their lists.

Celebrini is a fairly average-sized player but plays the game with immense physical and mental speed. He’s able to read plays on and off the puck at an elite level and has the work ethic to match it. There isn’t a particular generational element to his game like, say, the explosiveness of Connor McDavid or the finishing touch of Auston Matthews or Connor Bedard, but he has an immense level of high-level versatility.

Celebrini played his early youth hockey in Vancouver, before spending some time in San Jose while his dad worked for the Golden State Warriors. From there, he played two years at Shattuck St. Mary’s, a prestigious prep school that has hosted players like Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, and Zach Parise. He played one year of junior with the USHL’s Chicago Steel before heading to Boston University this season. As a 17-year-old, Celebrini put up an extremely impressive 64 points in 38 games, winning the Hobey Baker Award for the best college player in the nation. Only three other freshmen have done this, and they’re all names you’ll recognize – Adam Fantilli (2023), Jack Eichel (2015), and Paul Kariya (1993).

Celebrini will also be familiar to those who watch the World Juniors every holiday, as he produced a team-leading four goals and eight points for Canada this year.

NHL Lottery Odds

The official odds for getting the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery – the ones that dictate the chances for the team themselves – are below. You can also see their implied betting odds, as a reference point to compare to your sportsbook of choice when deciding on how much value you’re getting back.

Team	Prob	Implied	Team	Prob	Implied
1. San Jose	25.5%	+292	7. Ottawa	6.5%	+1438
2. Chicago	13.5%	+641	8. Seattle	6.0%	+1567
3. Anaheim	11.5%	+770	9. Calgary	5.0%	+1900
4. Columbus	9.5%	+953	10. New Jersey	3.5%	+2757
5. Montreal	8.5%	+1076	11. Buffalo	3.0%	+3233
6. Utah	7.5%	+1233

Teams’ odds in the draft lottery are defined by their final position in the NHL standings. Every non-playoff team has a shot at moving up in the draft lottery, though with a maximum leap of 10 spots, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and St. Louis cannot jump all the way to the top. Due to the lottery effectively being three lotteries, most teams can also fall 2-3 spots from their position by virtue of being lapped by teams above them.

Three Canadian teams are in the mix this year – the 28th overall, 30-36-16 Montreal Canadiens, the 26th overall, 37-41-4 Ottawa Senators, and the 23rd overall, 38-39-5 Calgary Flames.

NHL Lottery Market Odds

Several of the best Canadian sportsbooks are taking bets on the results Tuesday night, with the four most popular regulated options being Bet99, Betano, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Here’s where they’ve got their markets set right now:

Team	Bet99	Betano	DraftKings	Fanduel
San Jose	+270	+275	+270	+230
Chicago	+500	+600	+500	+500
Anaheim	+700	+700	+700	+600
Columbus	+850	+900	+850	+750
Montreal	+800	+1000	+900	+850
Utah	+1000	+1100	+1000	+1000
Ottawa	+1200	+1300	+1200	+1100
Seattle	+1300	+1500	+1300	+1200
Calgary	+1500	+1800	+1500	+1500
New Jersey	+2250	+2600	+2200	+2100
Buffalo	+2500	+3000	+2500	+2400

While your decision might be influenced by where you have an account, if you’re hunting for the best odds, Betano has a clean sweep, with the best value (or in Anaheim’s case, co-best value) on every single team. At the same time, none of their (and by extension, everyone else’s) offerings line up with the implied odds, all having a little bit of juice on them. If you’re okay with that because you want to play along with the festivities, then they’re the place to go.

Second And Third Overall

Not only does Betano have the most favourable market of the major sportsbooks for the first overall pick, they’re the only major sportsbook carrying markets for second and third overall. Below are their offerings for those spots, compared to their true lottery odds.

The current favourites to be drafted in those positions are Russian winger Ivan Demidov, who scored nearly two points per game in the MHL (Russia’s top junior league), and Belarussian defenceman Artyom Levshunov, who has spent his last two years in North America, playing 2022/23 in the USHL with Green Bay, and this year in the NCAA with Michigan State University.

Other popular names below them include forwards Cayden Lindstrom, Berkly Catton, and Konsta Helenius, along with defencemen Sam Dickinson, Anton Silayev, Zeev Buium, and Zayne Parekh.

Team	2nd %	Odds	3rd %	Odds
San Jose	18.8%	+350	55.7%	-167
Chicago	14.1%	+500	30.7%	+180
Anaheim	11.2%	+650	7.8%	+1000
Columbus	9.5%	+800	0.3%	N/A
Montreal	8.6%	+900	0.3%	N/A
Utah	7.7%	+1000	0.2%	N/A
Ottawa	6.7%	+1200	0.2%	N/A
Seattle	6.2%	+1300	0.2%	N/A
Calgary	5.2%	+1500	0.2%	N/A
New Jersey	3.5%	+1600	0.1%	N/A
Buffalo	3.2%	+2200	0.1%	N/A
Philadelphia	5.1%	+2600	0.1%	N/A
Minnesota	N/A	N/A	4.2%	+1900