Two San Jose Sharks prospects (?) were invited to Team Canada’s World Junior Championship camp ahead of the tournament. Michael Misa, who is technically a current San Jose Shark on loan to the AHL Barracuda, was invited to join the team’s camp after last year’s mysterious snub. Then there’s Joshua Ravensbergen, the goaltender who looks to have made it into the third spot on the list.

Timing for Misa is perfect

The timing for the Sharks and Misa is perfect. As TSN reports, Canada’s camp will open on Friday, Dec. 12 and then run through the 22nd. The team will then be ready for the start of the tournament on Boxing Day. That fits right into the Sharks’ and Team Canada’s plans for Misa.

“(Sharks GM) Mike Grier was great to deal with along the way,” Alan Millar, the general manager of Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence, told Sportsnet.

“Obviously, with Misa we dealt with an injury that he had with the Sharks. It was a matter of him going through that process, getting cleared and then getting assigned to the American Hockey League. Right around the time he was assigned to the (AHL), the thought process was get him in some games, play a lot and then he would join our team for the start of camp.”

With the Barracuda playing one more game on Wednesday, Misa could conceivably get one more game in before he reports to Team Canada’s camp. That means he’ll have played three AHL games after his injury and have those practices under his belt.

What role could Misa play with Team Canada?

Misa instantly becomes the potential best forward on Team Canada’s roster. He will be one of only three players on the roster who have NHL games under their belts — Calgary Flames defenseman Zayne Parekh has played 12 games (1 G, 1 A) and Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Harrison Brunicke has played 9 games (1 G, 0 A) — are the other two.

While Misa doesn’t have the international experience of last year’s World Junior Championship, that’s not really a big deal. Last year, Team Canada didn’t invite the then 17-year-old to the tournament despite the fact that he was tearing it up in the OHL. Canada only scored 13 goals in five games and ended up getting eliminated in the quarterfinals of the tournament. If there’s one thing last year’s OHL scoring champion will be able to bring, it’s a scoring touch.

He’s likely to play a top-line center role with Team Canada and a role on the first power play.

Joshua Ravensbergen gets a shot with Team Canada

As for Ravensbergen, it’s likely that his play this season with the Prince George Cougars earned him the third and final spot on the World Junior team. This is a deep roster, so we don’t expect Ravensbergen to get time, but he will get experience.

Ravensbergen has been very, very good for the Cougars in the WHL this season. He has two shutouts, a 16-6-0 record with a 2.50 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.

That said, he’s only 18 and will likely play behind two other stellar goaltenders in Carter George and Jack Ivankovic. George won gold for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2023 and the U18 World Championship in 2024. Canada is going to go with him barring anything major.

Meantime, Ivankovic played backup to George on the 2024 gold medal winning World Championship team and then took over the net for the 2025 U18 World Championship team that also won gold. He’s likely got the number two spot locked up.

What about Sam Dickinson?

As of right now, defenseman Sam Dickinson is still with the Sharks, but he is eligible to play for Team Canada at the World Juniors if the Sharks let him. According to The Athletic reporters Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman that might be an option.

”According to one source, the Sharks’ coaches appear open to it, but general manager Mike Grier hadn’t made up his mind as of a couple of days ago. The Sharks do play in Toronto on Thursday, so we wonder about them potentially sending him to Niagara after that,” the pair wrote.

It might be an interesting way for the Sharks to solve the team’s current logjam on the backend, especially if Vincent Desharnais is close to returning. It’s definitely something to keep an eye on as Friday approaches.