Misa eyeing roster spot with Sharks to start next season

LOS ANGELES -- Shortly after the San Jose Sharks made Michael Misa the No. 2 pick in the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater on Friday, the center from Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League clearly and without hesitation laid out his intentions for where he wants to be playing in October.

"The NHL," Misa said.

The 18-year-old was asked if the NCAA route was an option for him instead of returning to Saginaw.

"My thought process is I want to make San Jose next year," Misa said. "That's where my head is at."

So, and maybe this didn't need to be asked, but does that rule out the possibility of playing with his brother, Luke, at Penn State? Luke Misa, by the way, was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Draft.

"My goal is to play in the NHL," Misa said. "That's where my head's at right now."

The Sharks are all in if Misa can make it happen.

"I wouldn't expect him to say anything different," Sharks general manager Mike Grier said. "He's an ultra-competitive kid who has been playing up a level, up a birth year his whole life so you know he wants to be the best, he wants to play against the best. I'm sure this is what he wants to do. We're not going to hand him anything. He's got to come into training camp and try and take a job and earn a spot. We'll just kind of see how it goes."

Misa said he's so confident about his ability to play in the NHL because of his ability and the Sharks' rebuilding situation.

He thinks there will be room for him to join the likes of forwards Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and William Eklund in San Jose right away, and ideally joined soon enough by fellow top prospects Sam Dickinson (No. 11 in 2024), Igor Chernyshov (No. 33 in 2024), Quentin Musty (No. 26 in 2023) and Kasper Halttunen (No. 36 in 2023).

"I think when I'm at my best I drive plays," Misa said. "I think I make players around me better. San Jose is in a rebuilding situation where they need younger guys to come in and help out and I hope to be one of them."

Let's be clear, Misa isn't predicting he'll make the Sharks opening night roster. It's simply a goal for him, one he and the Sharks do not believe to be overly lofty based on his career trajectory so far, starting as a 15-year-old playing in the OHL after being granted exceptional player status.

"For me, watching him as he got pushed to the wing (in 2023-24), he won a Memorial Cup," Sharks director of amateur scouting Chris Morehouse said. "They challenged him, gave him the No. 1 center, asked him to put up numbers, asked him to produce and he did that. The fact that he's been able to show against older kids what he's able to do, you can see the drive and the competitiveness and the continued want to be the best. Those are all really key things. If you want kids to hit their potential they have to have that overachieving mentality, and I think this kid has it."

Misa, though, knows there's work to be done for him to make it.

"It's a big summer for me," Misa said. "I'll start out with (development) camp next week, get the feel out there in San Jose and then come home and just get stronger. I think that's the biggest thing. Work on my game on the ice and be ready coming into main camp."

He took big steps this season with Saginaw, leading all Canadian Hockey League players with 134 points (62 goals, 72 assists) in 65 games. He had 46 multipoint games and 16 multigoal games, scoring 21 power-play goals and four short-handed goals.

Misa has drawn comparisons to Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares.

"That's pretty incredible," Misa said of the comparisons to Tavares. "I mean, he's one heck of a player, so to be able to get compared to him, it's pretty cool. I think I play like him in a way, a bit offensively, like his puck protection, his shot. I can see myself relating to him a little bit."

Misa still has to get to know the Sharks, though.

The process started Friday, when Celebrini Facetimed him shortly after he was announced as the No. 2 pick.

"That was pretty cool," Misa said.

He also got a text from Sharks legend Joe Thornton, but was late to responding.

"I didn't answer it yet," Misa said about 30 minutes after he was picked. "I looked at my notifications quick and I saw a text and it said 'Jumbo' at the end of it, so I was assuming that was him."

Celebrini lived with Thornton this season. Maybe Misa will live under Thornton's roof next season.

He has to make it to the NHL for that to happen.

Clearly, he thinks he can do it.

"It'll be up to him," Grier said. "We're not going to put any pressure on him, but he's got the talent."