Sharks take best-player-available approach to 2025 NHL Draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Sharks have a new star in town.
With the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, San Jose selected 134-point centerman Michael Misa from the Saginaw Spirit.
They also, perhaps surprisingly, grabbed a first-round goalie, Josh Ravensbergen with the No. 30 pick.
Sharks general manager Mike Grier noted that San Jose received trade offers worth considering for the No. 2 pick, but that nothing got close.
“Michael was too special of a player for us to pass on,” Grier said.
San Jose Hockey Now learned from a source that the New York Islanders offered star 25-year-old defenseman Noah Dobson to the Sharks for the No. 2 pick, which Grier declined.
The Islanders went on to trade Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday for the Nos. 16 and 17 picks in the 2025 draft, and winger Emil Heineman.
League sources independent of the Sharks think that Misa is indeed special.
“Everything’s there to be a really good front-line NHL player,” a league source told SJHN before the 2025 draft. “He is a first-line center.”
So while there was a lot of buzz, especially on Thursday, that the Sharks would opt for fast-rising Swedish pivot Anton Frondell, San Jose went with the “safe” pick in consensus top forward Misa. Frondell went to the Chicago Blackhawks at No. 3.
Grier said that Misa was the Sharks’ pick “for a while,” though he declined to specify for how long.
“We were pretty sure he was No. 2 on our list for quite a while,” Grier said.
We can assume No. 1 was also the No. 1 pick of the draft, defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who went to the New York Islanders.
“Safe,” by the way, isn’t a euphemism for Misa’s game.
“High skill, high sense, offensive driver, real creative, very skilled,” an NHL scout told SJHN.
“He consistently skates away from people and creates speed, he’s slippery when he’s got the puck,” the league source said. “I think his skill level is super-high. Great hands. He’s a really intelligent player. He makes great plays.”
So while Frondell’s massive shot and bigger body might be a better fit, in the future, with centers Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith — Misa and Frondell are both 6-foot-1, but Frondell is 20 pounds heavier right now — I think the Sharks just went best player available, which appears to be Misa.
It also sounds like Misa will have a chance to compete for an NHL job this fall, per Grier: “He’s got to come into training camp and try and take a job and earn a spot.”
There’s some thought that Misa’s development could be better served in the NCAA, but that’s a story for another day.
Anyway, if Celebrini, Misa or Smith duplicate in skill, productivity, or position, that’s a good problem for Grier to have, and all three natural centers should have the versatility to play wing, too.
Grier projects Misa as a center in the future, at least today.
“I think he can stay in the middle with his brain and his skating and the way he plays on the defensive side of the puck,” Grier said.
“His defensive play isn’t as talked about as much because of the offensive production,” director of amateur scouting Chris Morehouse agreed. “But he does have strength. He does have the ability to maintain and hold the middle of the ice.”
Between Celebrini and Smith and Misa and William Eklund, the Sharks should have a high-powered offensive attack in the coming years.
That’s not mentioning other highly skilled forward prospects like Igor Chernyshov and Quentin Musty.
As for Ravensbergen, even the 6-foot-5 Prince George Cougars netminder was surprised to be selected by the Sharks.
Ravensbergen cited fewer meetings with San Jose than other teams and the presence of 23-year-old star prospect Yaroslav Askarov ahead of him on the depth chart.
“He’s just big, athletic, kind of prototypical of today’s goalie,” director of player personnel Scott Fitzgerald noted.
Most outsiders would’ve guessed that the Sharks would address defense, the organization’s greatest need, at No. 30.
“He was the best player available on our board,” Grier emphasized. “We’re not drafting for whatever other people might think our need is in the organization. We’re taking the best player here.”
You can say the Sharks did that with Misa, too.
It’s a realistic view taken by Grier.
“For the most part, we’re trying to stay away from drafting for need,” Grier said. “It’s not the NFL or the NBA. These kids are all going to need some time.”
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