Sheng Peng
The San Jose Sharks appear to know what they’re doing, when it comes to developing prospects.
Last year, there were many questions about the Sharks keeping rookie Will Smith in the NHL, especially after the 2023 No. 4 pick’s slow start.
Through Jan. 18 last season, Smith had six goals and 15 points in 40 games.
The Sharks had the option, in the summer, of giving Smith another year of development at Boston College. Even in-season, they could’ve sent the NCAA product down to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.
This year, there were many questions about the Sharks keeping rookie Michael Misa in the NHL, especially after the 2025 No. 2 pick’s slow start.
Through Jan. 16, in part because of injury and a tour of duty with Canada at World Juniors, Misa had one goal and three points in just 10 games.
The Sharks had the option, before Misa’s 10th NHL contest, of re-assigning the CHL product back to the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit.
In both cases, San Jose braintrust projected confidence that both teenagers would be able to learn on the fly and not be overwhelmed by the best hockey league in the world, a tall order, to be sure.
But San Jose should know their prospects better than anybody.
Smith certainly proved the Sharks right last season, racking up 12 goals and 30 points in his last 34 games.
And Misa appears to be following Smith’s footsteps, with three goals and nine points in his last 11 games, highlighted by his first-ever OT goal in a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
MICHAEL MISA SCORES HIS FIRST CAREER @ENERGIZER OT WINNER 🔥
What a moment for the 2025 second overall pick! pic.twitter.com/oauE5GVLDM
— NHL (@NHL) March 1, 2026
Extra-impressive for Misa, he’s doing it as a center, a big defensive challenge for any rookie, not to mention a 19-year-old.
Warsofsky is seeing improvement: “Winning pucks, and he’s playing with pace. His second effort on pucks is really impressive for a young man.”
“I’ve been just playing harder on guys, giving them extra cross-checks and stuff like that,” Misa said. “That can lead to offense.”
Case in point, in the second period on Sunday, Misa bumped star 29-year-old winger Kyle Connor off the puck and took it the other way.
Slowly but surely, Misa is getting better. While the San Jose Sharks, understandably, are still leaning heavily on the far more polished Macklin Celebrini and Alex Wennberg up the middle, Misa skated a career-high 15:39 this afternoon.
“He’s earned it. He has earned it by the way he’s played,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said.
Ryan Warsofsky
Warsofsky laughed when asked about switching Graf for Sherwood: "Knew you guys were gonna ask about it…We don't base everything off analytics. There's other things that come in play, like I've spoken about. We've seen them have some chemistry, we also just got Sherwood, and…
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 2, 2026
Michael Misa
Will Smith
Smith shares #SJSharks bench view of Misa's OT goal: "It was pretty crazy. We saw him getting that speed there, he's a great skater, so we knew something was gonna happen. Little bit of a broken play that he put in the back of the net against one of the best goalies in league."
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 2, 2026
Vincent Desharnais
“He’s not the same player as when he came in.”
Deharnais on Misa’s growth as a player
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 2, 2026