Michael Misa Adds More Young Talent to the Rebuilding San Jose Sharks

Michael Misa Adds More Young Talent to the Rebuilding San Jose Sharks

the San Jose Sharks are considered one of the big winners from the 2025 NHL draft they also have a lot of cap space heading into free agency jd Young breaks down a very impressive off season so far in San Jose all that and more next on today’s Locked on NHL podcast [Music] you’re locked on NHL your daily podcast on the National Hockey League part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day gil Martin here and welcome everybody to the Monday edition of the Locked On NHL podcast part of the Locked Podcast Network your team every day i want to thank everyone who makes Locked on NHL your first listen every day don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel right now new FanDuel customers can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins it is my pleasure to welcome back to the show the host of Locked On Sharks JD Young and uh JD you’ve got to be pleased with the Sharks draft it was one of the highest rated drafts by almost every expert panel what stood out to you about the way the Sharks handled this draft
uh Mike Greer he went for upside uh this was a definitely a draft where maybe you thought he might go a little bit more kind of meat and potatoes to try to fill some needs or fill some holes especially right-handed defense in the pipeline but Greer swung for upside of course you start with Michael Misa who was picked number two considered the best forward in the draft uh might be considered a a Celibbrini type of clone in the style that he plays that full 200 foot game uh but also just his style and his uh skill in the offensive zone but then the details in the defensive zone as we saw Celebrity uh very impressive season uh his first season in the NHL uh they followed up by getting uh Joshua Ravensburgen the considered the best goalie in the class even though right you have Ascrov who’s considered to be your long-term starter and should be the uh Starks Shark starter opening night this season but uh he thought the opportunity to continue to add to the pipeline there just too good to pass up uh getting a guy like Simon Wang in the second round who uh very raw like raw raw prospect but uh 6′ almost 6’7 230 lbs and one of the best skaters in the class uh if he hits it feels like it could be a potential massive win there so this class I think was marked by just swinging for upside and uh maybe not playing it safe with with some of the picks there could have been some potential options there but I I feel like uh Greer knows exactly how he wants to build this team and he has been uh doing that the last couple seasons and I think uh we saw it again this year as far as Michael Misa is concerned where do you see him how far off is he from the NHL is there a chance he plays this year and if not what do you see him doing
yeah that’s a big question with Misa right is uh you know a lot of these other top prospects are already kind of committed to going to schools uh Misa who I think is clearly too good to be going back to the OHL next year after putting up 62 goals and 134 points in 65 games uh I think the Sharks are going to give him every opportunity to play in the NHL next year uh whether they maybe f followed the Will Smith uh you know kind of road of you know being very careful the first half of the season maybe you’re giving him development days maybe he’s not playing in back-to-back games and then kind of the second half of the season as he gets more accustomed to playing NHL life you take the training wheels off and let him go and uh Will Smith had a very successful second half of the season and I think for Misa uh you could potentially do that as well um or if they don’t uh if if they feel like he’s not ready maybe you send him to college keep him from signing a ZLC until literally the last possible minute that you can uh that way he can have the option of going to college and you look at you know I think any school in the nation would be happy to grab uh Michael Misa you know his brother Luke Misa is going to be going to Penn State this year so maybe an opportunity uh to go there play with his brother there’s uh rumors Gavin McKenna who’s supposed to be the 2026 top pick in the draft is uh potentially looking at Penn State as well uh you know Mike Greer he loves those Boston schools so I’m sure he’d be happy to to push uh Misa that way those guys those schools always have top- end prospects so uh I think it’s uh the Sharks they’re going to do what they think is right for Misa uh but I would assume it’s either the NHL or maybe or uh NCLA would be my two guesses for Misa next year
as far as sleepers are concerned in this draft maybe a pick not in the first round that you really think has some potential
uh I’m going to go with Simon Wang who I did mention earlier uh like I said big boy uh kind of got to hockey a little bit later uh the highest born uh Chinese player didn’t put up amazing like production in the OHL but uh again that raw raw prospect for uh him uh great one first of all great story just kind of you know being a a Chinese immigrant going over to Canada at the age of 14 and uh really falling in love with hockey and kind of wasn’t until that that time when he really got into hockey uh like kind of full-time but uh first of all the way he kind of carries himself self and he knows that this pick is is so huge for Chinese hockey but the one of the first things he said is uh I want someone to break my record i want someone to be drafted in the first round i want a Chinese player to be drafted in the top 10 like he knows uh how important his his work is and he’s already talked about uh post hockey kind of going and helping to grow the game in China but um again for someone that size right 6’6 6’7 230 lbs the way he skates and probably going to be more of a shutdown defensive type of defenseman probably not much offensive production uh but if he hits you’re looking at an absolute monster on the blue line to go with Sam Dickinson who the Sharks drafted uh last year 11th overall uh you know you look at like Muka Mullan and some of the other picks uh that is just a big big blue line for the the Sharks also I do want to shout out Cole McKenna who the Sharks drafted uh later in the second round actually was kind of projected to be a maybe a late first early second but McKini uh very good defensively as a center uh great in the the penalty kill i think one of those kind of jackof alltrade type of players uh projects to be a really solid third line and and center and if you have uh you know celibbrini misuk kind of doing a little bit more offensive stuff and having that kind of shut down type of player like McKenna I think McKenna has a chance has a pretty good uh shot to be an NHL player as well
free agency coming up this week the Sharks have a lot of money to spend maybe the most [Laughter] so what is the plan for uh Greer in free agency any targets and how much money do they have to spend to get to the floor even
so the the Sharks currently have uh $44 million in cap space right now uh projection you’re going to have to spend about 20 to 25 to safely get to the floor uh so I do expect Greer to kind of he does did say like we want to make this roster better uh expect him to target the blue line but he also doesn’t want to give out massive like six or sevenyear contracts especially with the prospects coming in so I think Greer is going to try to uh maybe more of a a lot of the middle class of free agency to try to kind of bolster up this team right give some some more support to the forwards and guys like Celebriny and Will Smith right maybe try to find a guy who can um help Will Smith along on the second line as Will Smith is projected to kind of at least be the 2C this year but if Smith doesn’t work out I think having a backup plan for in case Smith uh isn’t quite ready to be the 2C they’re there but I expect them to go after uh try to find to bolster up this this defense they’re also going to need to find a backup goalie behind Ascarov there are a lot of holes like there’s plenty of ways to spend the money i’m just curious to see how Greer does it because again that’s a lot of money and Greer said he doesn’t want to give out six or seven year long deals so I am curious to see how he he’s able to kind of navigate that but uh I would like I said I would expect a couple defenseman uh somebody who can carry the puck or at least get the transition moving because that’s been a huge issue for the San Jose uh maybe maybe Bo i’ve heard that they’re they’re interested in Bo from the Sabres but we know the Sabres kind of want to make more of a hockey deal and the Sharks don’t really have a ton of guys I think they’re willing to give up on uh you know on the roster right now like maybe a guy like Mario Ferraro or something like that as a centerpiece for but you’d still have to probably give up some futures i think that’s that’s where the Sharks have their most of their their kind of assets is in futures right now so
do you think they might acquire some quote unquote bad contract veterans as a stop gap
uh talking to Greer last week he said that’s not kind of plan A i I think that for them they want to try to again like he wants to try to get the roster better and I know you’re trying to ship off some of your Isles contracts to Mik Gill but uh I think that’s kind of more of a plan B and if they get to August and they realize like hey we we really need to maybe bring on a bad contract here and take back an asset that might be something that they look to do but I think for Greer right now he wants this roster to take a step this year right and with Celibbrini and Smith entering year two with Ekkund in year three um you know and with Ascrov uh in that I think there’s there’s legitimate reason for the Sharks to try to make uh as like an Anaheim Ducks type jump where just be competitive for a good chunk of the season maybe not in the playoff but just be a more competitive team this year and I think that’s the plan for Greer all right JD why don’t you tell our viewers and our listeners where they could find the podcast and where they could find you on social media uh
of course you can listen wherever you’re listening to this podcast just search for Lockdown Sharks you can find us on YouTube as well on Lockdown Sharks you can find the show on Twitter Facebook and Instagram at Lockdown Sharks find me on Twitter and Blue Sky Fryhole all right JD thanks so much always a pleasure
always a pleasure Gil today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel summer sports are in full swing and whether you’re all about baseball under the lights golf on the green or high stakes soccer action FanDuel is the best way to make every game more exciting you’re already following the action why not make it a little more thrilling with FanDuel you can get in on the game while your friends are getting sunburned at the beach i’ve been using FanDuel to track my favorite matchups and the app keeps it fresh with new daily promotions and fun ways to bet it’s easy to use fast to pay out and makes even regular season games feel like much events new to FanDuel new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins open the FanDuel app today or visit fanuel.com to get started that’s fandal.com to get started today

The San Jose Sharks added the best forward in the 2025 NHL Draft in Michael Misa and the highest rated goalie in Joshua Ravensbergen.

J.D. Young of Locked On Sharks joins us to discuss the draft class and what we can expect from the Sharks in free agency as they need to spend just to reach the cap floor.

All this and more on today’s Locked On NHL Podcast with Gil Martin.

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