SAN JOSE — Prospect center Michael Misa is set to begin a conditioning loan with the San Jose Sharks’ top minor league affiliate this week, possibly as a prelude to playing for his home country at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Minnesota later this month.

The Sharks on Wednesday assigned Misa, a native of Oakville, Ontario, to the Barracuda to begin what could be a brief conditioning stint in the AHL, with Canada’s training camp for this year’s World Juniors set to start on Dec. 12.

Misa, 18, sustained a lower-body injury during the team’s morning skate on Nov. 5 as he took part in a drill before a Sharks road game against the Seattle Kraken. The injury steadily improved over the last two weeks, and Misa took part in the Sharks’ practice on Tuesday.

Misa had been on injured reserve but is now officially on long-term injured reserve, meaning he will not be taking up a spot on the Sharks’ 23-man roster while he is with the Barracuda.

Misa’s last game came on Nov. 1 when the Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in overtime. In seven games with the Sharks this season, Misa, taken second overall at this year’s NHL Draft in Los Angeles, has three points.

The Barracuda hosts the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday and Saturday at Tech CU Arena.

“He’s excited,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of Misa before Wednesday’s game with the Washington Capitals. “We talked to him, so it’ll be good for him to go down there and play. He’s been out for a bit. It’s a challenging league, it’s a tough league. Respect it and go (play) his game.”

The Barracuda, which features fellow prospect forwards Igor Chernyshov, Quentin Musty, and Kasper Halttunen, has been one of the AHL’s best teams of late, going 8-1-0-1 in its last 10 games while moving into second place in the Pacific Division. ‘

Misa and Chernyshov were teammates with the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirits last season, when they had a combined 189 points in just 88 games.

That’ll be a little tougher to do in the AHL, although Chernyshov, taken 33rd overall by the Sharks in the 2024 draft, has a team-leading 19 points in 20 games and was just named the league’s Rookie of the Month for November.

“There are some guys that are fighting at 30 years old like it’s a life or death situation, so you’ve got to respect it,” said Warsofsky, who was a head coach in the AHL from 2019 to 2022. “But it will be good for him to go down there and get some game action. With our practice schedule, we just don’t have enough (time). Even when we do, it’s 25-30 minutes. So we’ve got to get him down there and get him playing.”

Misa, surprisingly, didn’t get an invite from Hockey Canada to take part in last year’s World Junior selection camp, but still went on to record 134 points in 65 games with Saginaw.

Canada’s training camp roster for the World Juniors will be announced next Tuesday, and it could also include Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson, who played in last year’s tournament in Ottawa. The Canadian team is led by Mark and Dale Hunter, Dickinson’s general manager and coach and general manager with the London Knights from 2022 to 2025.

IORIO REUNION 

Wednesday’s game marked Sharks defenseman Vincent Iorio’s first against the Capitals, who drafted him in the second round in 2021. Iorio, now in his fourth pro season, was placed on waivers by the Capitals on Oct. 15 and claimed by the Sharks the next day.

“It was always a possibility,” Iorio said of going on waivers after he was scratched for the first four games of the Capitals’ season. “In this business, with this job, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Iorio played in six straight games with the Sharks from Oct. 17-26 while Shakir Mukhamadullin, John Klingberg, and later Nick Leddy were injured. But once the Sharks began to get healthy, Iorio was scratched from seven straight games before he agreed to a two-week conditioning loan with the Barracuda, an experience he enjoyed as he recorded seven assists in six games.

Perhaps Iorio will now have more opportunities to play with Vincent Desharnais, a fellow right-shot defenseman, likely out for multiple weeks with an upper-body injury, although the Sharks are still carrying eight defensemen.

Iorio has averaged 16:10 in ice time in seven games with the Sharks before Wednesday’s game. With Iorio in Wednesday’s lineup, Mukhamadullin and Leddy will both be scratched.

“We really don’t want these young guys sitting out too long,” Warsofsky said. “I’m sure he’s excited to play against his former team.”

NOTABLE

Forward Jeff Skinner, still on IR with a lower-body injury, will not play on Wednesday, as Warsofsky said the Sharks want to give him more time to get up to speed. Skinner, who was injured on Nov. 13 in a game against the Calgary Flames, practiced on Tuesday. The Sharks already have 23 players on their active roster. They would likely need to assign someone to the Barracuda to clear a spot for Skinner when he’s available. … Center Zack Ostapchuk (lower body) had to miss his second straight game Wednesday.