Preview/Lines #44: Misa in Different Sharks’ Reality Now

Michael Misa is entering a different San Jose Sharks’ line-up than he left.

When Misa left morning skate against the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 5 with a right ankle injury, the Sharks were 4-6-3. While the team had rallied from a 0-4-2 start to the season, playoff talk for a squad that had been the worst in the NHL for consecutive seasons seemed, frankly, delusional.

But now, two months later, San Jose is four games over .500, and in possession of the No. 1 wild card spot in the West.

The Sharks are 100 percent in the playoff hunt.

So San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky has to balance that, with Misa’s development.

Just keep that in mind, if Misa sits from time to time. He’s still developing in the NHL too, in practice and in working out, which is valuable. Of course, that doesn’t replace game action in the best league in the world.

Misa, coming off a grueling 7-games-in-11-days stretch at the World Juniors, last contest on Jan. 5, will sit out on Saturday afternoon against the Dallas Stars.

The Sharks also just beat the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 7 with Adam Gaudette as a perfectly reasonable third-line center, which would be Misa’s natural position. Gaudette scored a goal in a 4-3 OT victory.

Warsofsky noted that Misa, who is healthy, has only had one practice with the Sharks since coming back from WJCs.

That said, you can’t sit the No. 2 pick of the 2025 Draft for too many games.

“We know we need to get him to play, and he needs to play games and get him going here. So I don’t see him sitting
up for too long,” Warsofsky said on Saturday morning.

Keep in mind, too, it’s a vote of confidence that the Sharks decided to keep Misa in the NHL, instead of re-assigning him to the OHL, that they believe that the 18-year-old center can help them make the playoffs.

But just not every game, not yet. He’ll have to earn that and beat out other NHL-caliber forwards. Let’s see if the star prospect is up for the challenge.

San Jose Sharks (22-18-3)

Alex Nedeljkovic starts. It’s otherwise the same Sharks line-up as their 4-3 OT win over the Los Angeles Kings:

Eklund-Celebrini-Chernyshov
Regenda-Wennberg-Toffoli
Skinner-Gaudette-Graf
Goodrow-Ostapchuk-Reaves

Orlov-Liljegren
Ferraro-Iorio
Dickinson-Leddy

Nedeljkovic

Warsofsky says Klingberg is a possibility tomorrow vs. Vegas, rule Mukhamadullin out

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 10, 2026

Dallas Stars (26-10-8)

Stars look for season sweep of the Sharks in Saturday matinee.

Game Day Guide ⤵️@PNCBank | #TexasHockey

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 10, 2026

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars is at 1 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.