What happened in the room when the Sharks won the NHL draft lottery

What Happened Inside the Room When the Sharks Won the NHL Draft Drawing originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Editor’s Note: Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can learn more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.

SECAUCUS, NJ — The most important moment in San Jose Sharks history may have happened not on the ice, but rather in a small, nondescript NHL Network conference room.

The NHL held the draft drawing about 60 minutes before the televised reveal, which took place around 7 p.m. ET, in a two-story building the league shares with MLB Network.

Twenty-one people crowded into the room, about 12 feet by 24 feet. Among them were NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Ernst and Young auditor Scott Clarke and Smartplay International employee Will Markham.

Only one representative from the NHL team, Pittsburgh Penguins director of hockey operations and legal affairs Vukie Mpofu, attended the drawing. Teams don’t really send reps to the draft lottery or TV reveal anymore — that was more of a pre-COVID thing. The Sharks, for example, didn’t send anyone, even with former Jr. Shark Macklin Celebrini the prize in this draft lottery.

As for the media, I was there, alongside Greg Wyshynski of ESPN and Mike Morreale of NHL.com. Otherwise, league executives and staff filled the room.

Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, who revealed the draft lottery order on television, was not in the room for the drawing. None of us were allowed out of the room for any reason until the reveal was over, with a few key exceptions.

Celebrini, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick, was in the building but not for the lottery itself.

Around 5:30 p.m., we were all ushered into the conference room and asked to place our phones in a sealed envelope. Laptops had to be left closed or in a backpack. There would be no leak of the result before the announcement on television.

At 5:38 p.m., Bettman kicked off proceedings by holding up two newspapers – today’s New York Times and Wall Street Journal – to certify that it was May 7, 2024. He then explained the draft rules lottery base and introduced the team. and members of the media who were in the room.

It took Bettman more than five minutes to understand all the rules, but they were ultimately relevant as we were about to witness two historic and important lottery draft events.

Fourteen lottery balls, numbered 1 to 14, were placed in a Smartplay lottery machine and then mixed by the wind in a transparent chamber. Markham, who operated it, said the NBA, among others, used his machines, and that this exact machine was headed to Chicago for Sunday’s NBA draft lottery.

From these 14 balls, four separate balls would be drawn to form a four number combo. This combo – 1,001 different ones are possible, all but one assigned to an individual team – would be used to determine the winners of the NHL draft. 11-12-13-14 would mean a new draw, to limit the winning calculations to a mere 1,000. The Sharks had 185 possible winning combinations out of the 1,001.

Two draws – one for choice No. 1 and another for choice No. 2 – take place.

“Draw!” NHL Vice President of Events Thomas Meaney called the first coin toss, to determine which team would pick first overall.

Current rules only allow teams to move up 10 spots in the draft lottery, so if any of the teams No. 12 through No. 16 had won the drawing, the Sharks would have automatically gotten the No. 1 pick.

“10,” Bettman announced as the first ball was revealed.

Meaney yelled for a draw every 20 seconds.

“2”

Every media and team member furiously tried to keep up, flipping through a five-page document laying out every possible winning combo and the corresponding team.

“7”

Perhaps the most important person in the room at that moment was Clarke, who has been auditing NHL draft lotteries since 2015. He also scanned the sheet and would be the first to announce the winner.

At this point, with a 2-7-10 tie, the Sharks had five chances to win the lottery (with a 4, 9, 11, 13 or 14).

The Chicago Blackhawks, number 2, were “3” away from beating the Sharks for the first pick.

Utah’s No. 6 hockey club was just an “8.”

The Ottawa Senators, number 7, were at a “12”.

The No. 8 Seattle Kraken was at “5”.

The Minnesota Wild had a “1” and a “6” moving up 10 spots from No. 13, which would give the Sharks the No. 1 pick, under the rules for teams No. 12 through No. 16 .

“Draw!”

“11”

“2-7-10-11,” Clarke said. “San Jose.”

“San Jose will have the first pick in the 2024 NHL Draft,” Bettman announced at 5:50 p.m.

In just a few minutes, one of the most intense moments in Sharks history – on or off the ice – was over, and for once, they were the victors.

This was the first time the Sharks had won the No. 1 pick. But there was more history and drama to come.

What about choice #2?

Earlier in the afternoon, ESPN host John Buccigross chimed in, revealing from the NHL Network set a repeat lottery order that showed the Sharks at No. 1 and the new club Utah at No. 2.

This certainly fueled internet conspiracy theorists who were unfoundedly convinced that the NHL was rigging the lottery and that the solution was there.

“Draw!”

“2-4-8-11 is San Jose.”

This forced a new draw as the Sharks’ pick had already been decided. After all, they couldn’t win the lottery twice.

The Sharks also had the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round pick No. 14 in 2024 – albeit protected in the top 10 – which they acquired in the Erik Karlsson trade, but that selection couldn’t go higher than number 4. The No. 2 pick wasn’t in play there either.

Bettman revealed that this was the first time as commissioner that he had seen a shake-up.

2, 8, and 4 were the first three numbers announced, so Utah did not have a four-number combination to advance. Pittsburgh also didn’t have a four-digit combo to advance.

Then came the redrawing.

“3-9-11-14 is San Jose.”

“Wow,” Bettman said with a smile.

Bettman, NHL commissioner since 1993, witnessed two shuffles on the same day.

14, 11 and 3 were the first three numbers called, but Utah needed a “7” to advance. Pittsburgh once again had no chance of progressing.

Let’s move on to the second redraw.

“3-6-11-14 is Chicago.”

However, 6, 11, and 3 were the first three numbers drawn, so Utah and Pittsburgh had no chance to advance.

What a relief for Buccigross – and for the NHL.

“Chicago has the second selection in the 2024 NHL Draft,” Bettman announced, then smiled. “Thank you all for being here tonight, and you are not allowed to leave the room until the announcement is made on television.”

NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer left the room to relay the results to the broadcast, and Bettman appeared with Buccigross on ESPN’s draft lottery show.

It was 6:01 p.m., about half an hour before the show started. So for about 45 minutes, fewer than two dozen people knew how much the Sharks’ world had just changed.

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