{"id":146479,"date":"2025-09-16T03:37:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T03:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/146479\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T03:37:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T03:37:09","slug":"sharks-michael-misa-impresses-nhl-scouts-in-rookie-faceoff-nbc-sports-bay-area-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/146479\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharks\u2019 Michael Misa impresses NHL scouts in Rookie Faceoff \u2013 NBC Sports Bay Area & California"},"content":{"rendered":"

NHL scouts aren\u2019t sure how good Michael Misa will be in his rookie season. But after watching the Sharks\u2019 No. 2 pick<\/a> of the 2025 NHL Draft at the Rookie Faceoff, they\u2019re pretty sure Misa has a bright future in the league.<\/p>\n

Three scouts, none with the Sharks, spoke with San Jose Hockey Now about Misa\u2019s performance at Rookie Faceoff. The 6-foot-1 centerman had one goal and four assists in just two games, as the Sharks swept the Rookie Faceoff for a second consecutive year.<\/p>\n

So, why are these scouts more certain about Misa\u2019s long-term future than what he does in his rookie campaign as an 18-year-old?<\/p>\n

\u201cLots of poise with the puck. Sees plays at elite level,\u201d Scout No. 1 said. \u201cHis body control and puck control are high end. Very talented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scout No. 2 echoed that, noting that these are trademarks of some of the best players in the NHL.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmart, will be a real good player for a long time,\u201d Scout No. 3 said.<\/p>\n

The sum of these skills? San Jose Barracuda head coach John McCarthy<\/a>, who also helmed the Sharks\u2019 Rookie Faceoff entry, spoke to that: \u201cHe sees the ice well, knows where people are, can make plays through tight triangles and tight areas. That\u2019s a very transferable skill to the NHL.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this season?<\/p>\n

Remember, the 182-pound forward is just 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoesn\u2019t look NHL size or have explosive speed yet,\u201d Scout No. 1 said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s in contrast to 2024 first-overall selection Macklin Celebrini<\/a>, who came into training camp NHL-ready in pretty much every way.<\/p>\n

Of course, Celebrini was a singular prospect, and development in those areas should come in time for Misa.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Misa\u2019s smarts and skills should help him survive among men in the best league in the world. Scout No. 2 thought a Will Smith-like campaign<\/a> could be in the cards for Misa.<\/p>\n

Smith struggled out of the gate last season but finished at almost a point-per-game pace in the second half of the year, just missing out on the All-Rookie Team with 18 goals and 45 points.<\/p>\n

If Misa could duplicate that as an 18-year-old \u2014 Smith was 19 \u2014 that truly would be impressive.<\/p>\n

Scout No. 1 also compared Misa to William Eklund<\/a>, for a more technical reason: \u201cHe\u2019s bigger than he looks out there because he skates with deep knee bend and hunched over, similar to Eklund.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShould be fine,\u201d Scout No. 3 said of his prognosis for Misa\u2019s upcoming rookie campaign. \u201cBut will be easier to say after seeing him in preseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added the scouts\u2019 consensus after the Sharks dominated the Rookie Faceoff with 14 goals in just two contests: \u201cSan Jose is looking good for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Download and follow the San Jose Hockey Now podcast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NHL scouts aren\u2019t sure how good Michael Misa will be in his rookie season. But after watching the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,25925,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-146479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-michael-misa","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}