Why Michael Misa Transforms San Jose’s Future

Why Michael Misa Transforms San Jose’s Future

michael Misa scored 134 points in this OHL season and was nearly a goal per game Since 2022 he’s been exceptional and led Sagena throughout this past season Despite an incredible track record and the ability to reach a new level in his draft year Misa didn’t go number one The Sharks won’t complain It’s another great addition to their stacked prospect pool What San Jose has now is a center core with the potential to replicate the Edmonton Oilers topline center in Mlin Celibbrini top six winger that can substitute as a center in Will Smith and an offensive powerhouse center to back the both of them in Michael Misa The necessary young core to win a championship is essentially established at this point So today let’s take a look at the fit of Michael Misa in San Jose why exactly he was their pick and how that set San Jose on the path towards finally bringing home a Stanley Cup Michael Misa is the most NHL ready player in this draft class It’s easy to see why he rose in draft boards over the year with a well-rounded game and 6’1 frame He has all the traits to be a quality firstline center at the NHL level and he probably won’t even need to play a second there for San Jose considering their talent pool The Sharks are considered to have one of the best crops of young talent if not the best They’ve been rebuilding for a while now have missed the playoffs in six consecutive seasons and are finally reaching the point where they could begin to turn the corner Last year they found their franchise centerpiece at first overall and also got a steal in a potential top pairing defenseman at number 11 The year before that they grabbed a dynamic adaptable playmaking scorer that can slot in their top six for the next decade Even before the 2025 draft the Sharks were positioned as well as any organization for the future And this most recent selection of Misa just helps to put them over the top The San Jose Sharks finished last place in the NHL in 2024-25 limiting them to dropping a maximum of two spots to third overall Maintaining their position in the draft order was still incredibly important considering how many viewed this year’s crop of prospects By the day of the lottery drawing many if not all interested parties saw Matthew Schaefer as the obvious top pick More debatable was the second pick but many still viewed Michael Misa as in a tier of his own above the then below tier of players ranging from about picks 3 to eight Because of San Jose’s ability to hold that second overall pick they stayed in what many believe to be that higher tier And obviously they agreed that Misa was the correct choice there We know that Misa has been a high volume scorer at the OHL level with an NHL ready frame What got lost in discussion throughout a lot of the draft year was just how impressive and consistent that high volume scoring has been Michael Misa was the eighth player to ever achieve exceptional status This is an honor prospects receive from the CHL to be allowed to play early typically at ages 14 or 15 3 plus years away from the date of their NHL draft Exceptional status is not meant to be a predictor of future NHL success Despite this 50% of players who have received exceptional status have gone on to be selected first overall in the NHL draft This is an honor received by players that are typically so exceptional that scouts can see them being the best in their class years before their draft date The players who have gotten this honor typically go first overall or fall off a little bit throughout their development Michael Misa didn’t either as the only exceptional status CHL player ever to go second overall Misa may not have shown generational McDavid or Baddard level promise in his OHL career but he was still absolutely phenomenal all throughout his three pre-draft years In his Dminus2 year Misa registered the highest points per game tally in OHL history for a player of that age In his Dminus1 he wasn’t as historically impressive but managed the 15th most points of a player all time in that age class seventh most ever since 2000 In his draft year though this season he vaulted right back to the top of all time OHL leaderboards with the most points by a player in their 17-year-old season in 30 years If production was the only factor that mattered in selecting prospects the precedent of past years suggests Misa should have went first overall Obviously that wasn’t enough So what else is there to be considered in his game scouts praise him as a high-end well-rounded skater His two-way game has steadily improved throughout the past few seasons And while there’s some debate as to what level he’s at defensively he’s viewed as capable and responsible in his own end His shot likewise has improved particularly into this past season as he rocketed up from 29 goals to 62 His limitations are only things that serve to hold him back from being the number one pick not as a prospect overall He may not stick as a center in the NHL given his faceoff numbers aren’t particularly great at the OHL level For the Sharks that really shouldn’t be a problem as they have their topline center and both Misa and Will Smith can be tried in that position as centers that can double as wings His team success was also disappointing as the Sagenos Spirit went out in five games Misa was the sixth highest scorer on his team in those games being held pointless in three of them and missing the final one If you want to be dramatic you can say this shows a lack of clutch factor or poor leadership on the Spirit captain If you want to be more realistic he had a bad series against an eerie Otter team that was about as strong as they were The San Jose Sharks are about as ideal of a situation any prospect can sign up for right now New players get to come in and join the core group of surefire young stars and build towards taking San Jose to their long awaited first cup Any talented motivated prospect would fit in there Misa’s fit with the Sharks is one that gives him and the roster plenty of time to figure out each other’s strengths and fits In the long term he could end up on their first or second line as a center or a winger The Sharks have lots of time before they’re competing Lots of time to figure out who he has the best chemistry with Whether it’s Celabbrini Smith Ecklund or anyone else all of them will get to play together on the power play or Mises surrounded by talented playmakers that can feed him the puck His development is in no rush but given his ability and current attributes this is something we could see as soon as this coming season Michael Misa had been in large part overlooked and underd discussed for just how great of a season he had this past year By the time draft season rolled around everyone recognized his abilities and he earned the second overall selection in this year’s draft Matthew Schaefer is without a doubt an incredible prospect but it could easily prove to be a mistake to pass on this guy at first overall With his abilities and the situation he’ll be touching down in expect Misa to make waves when he debuts whenever that’s going to be

Michael Misa just became the second overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. The San Jose Sharks, in adding Misa to their core of players such as Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and William Eklund, are pretty much set in terms of future talent. They have an exciting young core and prospect pool, stacked with top tier talents up front, on the back end, and in between the pipes. Today, we take a look at how Michael Misa fits into that group, how he earned his 2nd overall selection, and how the future of the San Jose Sharks now looks with him in the mix.

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0:00 Intro
1:10 Building The Future
3:14 Exceptional OHL Career
6:57 Top Tier Talent