Michael Misa is a Canadian centre for the San Jose Sharks, drafted second overall in 2025, one pick after Matthew Schaefer. He scored 62 goals and 134 points for the Saginaw Spirit in his draft year, and he had 21 points in 45 games as an NHL rookie in 2025-26.
| Fast facts: Michael Misa | |
|---|---|
| Current team | San Jose Sharks |
| Position | Centre, also left wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| Born | 16 February 2007, Oakville, Ontario |
| Height / weight | 6’1″ / 185 lbs, per NHL.com |
| Drafted | 2025, first round, 2nd overall, San Jose Sharks |
| Contract status | Three-year entry-level contract signed 10 September 2025, running through 2027-28 at a $982,500 cap hit |
| Jersey | No. 77 |
Why was Michael Misa in the AHL?
Michael Misa played two games for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda in December 2025 on a conditioning loan, on his way back from an injury. He made his NHL debut on 14 October 2025 against Carolina and scored his first goal on 26 October in a 6-5 overtime win at Minnesota, but on 5 November he hurt his right ankle at a morning skate in Seattle and went on injured reserve with three points in seven games.
He returned with the Barracuda on 5 December, then played for Canada at the World Juniors, and on 9 January 2026 the Sharks told him he would stay in the NHL for the rest of the season. After the World Juniors he had 18 points in 38 games, the same scoring rate as his season as a whole. “It definitely feels great. I think the last three weeks or so have been a grind to try and get back,” he told NBC Sports Bay Area when he returned.
What are Michael Misa’s career stats?
Michael Misa played three full seasons for the Saginaw Spirit before signing with the Sharks in September 2025.
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Mississauga Senators U16 | GTHL | 27 | 16 | 27 | 43 |
| 2022-23 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | 45 | 22 | 34 | 56 |
| 2023-24 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | 67 | 29 | 46 | 75 |
| 2024-25 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | 65 | 62 | 72 | 134 |
| 2025-26 | San Jose Barracuda | AHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025-26 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 45 | 9 | 12 | 21 |
In 2024-25 he led the OHL and the whole CHL in scoring, ten points ahead of the next-best OHL scorer. His 134 points were the most in the OHL since Patrick Kane in 2006-07, and his 62 goals matched Kane’s total, the most by a draft-eligible OHL player since 2000. He had a 28-game point streak that season, and he won the Red Tilson Trophy as OHL most outstanding player, the Eddie Powers Trophy as scoring champion and the Bobby Smith Trophy as scholastic player of the year, the first player to take all three in one season since Dave Simpson in 1981-82. A year earlier he won the 2024 Memorial Cup with Saginaw, the host team, with five assists in five games, and in January 2025 he became the 26th captain in Spirit history. Over his OHL career he scored 265 points in 177 regular-season games, 1.50 a game.
Did Michael Misa have exceptional status?
Yes. Hockey Canada granted Michael Misa exceptional status on 14 April 2022, which allowed him to enter the OHL at 15. He was the sixth OHL player to receive it, after John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid, Sean Day and Shane Wright, and Saginaw took him first overall in the 2022 OHL draft. He won the OHL’s rookie of the year award in 2023, and his 1.24 points a game were the best rookie rate among the league’s exceptional-status players.
Maddox Schultz of the WHL’s Regina Pats chose a different route and never applied for major junior exceptional status.
Why was Michael Misa left off Team Canada?
Canada did not select Michael Misa for the 2025 World Juniors, and he was not invited to the summer showcase or the final camp despite his 134-point season, as NHL.com and TSN reported. Canada went out in the quarter-final. At the 2026 World Juniors he had seven points in seven games and won bronze after a 6-3 win over Finland, Canada’s first World Junior medal since 2023. “My play on the ice is going to be really important for this team. I got to definitely step up,” he told TSN before the tournament.
He also won gold with Canada at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, with eight points in five games, and silver with Canada Red at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge in the 2022-23 season.
What is Michael Misa’s contract?
Michael Misa signed a three-year entry-level contract with San Jose on 10 September 2025. It is worth $2,947,500 in total, a $982,500 cap hit, according to PuckPedia’s contract data. The first year counted because he played 45 NHL games in 2025-26, so the deal runs through 2027-28, and he is due to become a restricted free agent in 2028.
How does Michael Misa compare with Celebrini and Stenberg?
Michael Misa is one of three straight top-two picks by San Jose: Macklin Celebrini went first in 2024, Misa second in 2025 and Ivar Stenberg second in 2026. Misa spent the summer of 2026 training in Vancouver with Celebrini and Gavin McKenna, NHL.com reported. “I think a couple of us were blown away by his skating and his speed,” Celebrini said of Misa in January 2026.
Where is Michael Misa playing in 2026-27?
Going into 2026-27 training camp, Michael Misa was on the Sharks’ roster for the Rookie Faceoff tournament in San Jose from 12 to 15 September, and he was competing with Alexander Wennberg to be San Jose’s second-line centre, The Hockey News reported. The Sharks had gone 39-35-8 in 2025-26 and missed the playoffs. Ryan Warsofsky is the head coach and Mike Grier the general manager. The channels and streams for every Sharks game are in our guide to how to watch the San Jose Sharks.
Where is Michael Misa from, and how tall is he?
Michael Misa was born on 16 February 2007 in Oakville, Ontario. His parents are Frank and Sandra Misa, and his older brother, Luke, is a forward at Penn State whom the Calgary Flames drafted in the fifth round, 150th overall, in 2024. Before the OHL, Michael played for the Mississauga Senators and scored 20 points in seven games at the 2022 OHL Cup. NHL.com lists Misa at 6’1″ and 185 lbs. He wears No. 77, a number no Sharks player had worn before him. We found no published reason for the choice.
He stands 185 cm tall, or 6’1″, and weighs 183 lbs.
His parents are Frank and Sandra Misa. His older brother Luke, born in 2005, was a fifth-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2024 and plays at Penn State.
Hockey Canada granted him exceptional player status in April 2022, letting him enter the OHL a year early at 15. He was the eighth player ever to receive it. His rookie rate of 1.24 points per game is the highest of any exceptional-status player, ahead of John Tavares and Connor McDavid.
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