As has long been expected, Michael Misa has officially signed his ELC with the Sharks earlier today. According to PuckPedia, he will receive close to the maximum allowed contract for a player on an ELC, maxing out on salary and signing bonus allowed on an ELC, but falling just shy of 2025 first overall pick Matthew Schaefer’s bonus structure.
The 2nd overall pick in the 2025 draft, Misa dominated the OHL as a draft-eligible, posting 62 goals and 134 points in 65 games for Saginaw this season. The highest-scoring season in the OHL since Patrick Kane scored 145 points for London in his Draft year. Making him a slam dunk pick at number 2 overall for the Sharks and one of the best prospects in the entire NHL.
The signing of Misa puts an end to any chance of Misa going to the NCAA for a season. There was some thought post-draft that Misa could benefit from a season in the NCAA against more physical competition, and potentially joining his brother at Penn State. But Misa always maintained that his goal was to make the Sharks out of camp this season, something that would not have been possible if he had gone the NCAA route this season.
Looking ahead to Misa’s chances of making the Sharks this season, the odds are pretty likely even if he does not blow the doors off in camp that he will get his nine games, and possibly more beyond that. Misa cannot be assigned to the AHL due to the NHL-CHL agreement that requires 19-year-old or younger prospects to be reassigned to the CHL if they are not in the NHL. There was some thought this would be changed this season, but insider Pierre Lebrun has since thrown some cold water on that idea.
Misa has little to prove in the CHL. If he proves somewhat capable at the NHL level, the Sharks could employ a similar strategy they used with Will Smith last season, with scheduled days off to reduce workload stress but also allowed him more time to train and get stronger in season, something that is hard to do over the course of an 82-game grind.
The Sharks will get to see Misa for the first time in a competitive game during the rookie faceoff this coming weekend, As He looks to show why the Sharks used the 2nd-overall pick on him. Hockey is finally back, and there are tons of things for Sharks fans to be excited about this season.