F Michael Misa - Saginaw Spirit, OHL (2025 Draft)

[Jared Grayden]

What are Misa's truly stand out traits that you want in a 1OA? Because I don't see them. They play different games but he reminds me of Fantilli in that they're both pretty good at everything but neither are twitchy nor have specific 1OA skills to point to.

I'd love to hear what people think of his traits.

I also can't get over the fact Saginaw plays to a race of 6 every game and basically everyone on that team scores, but that's probably nothing.

Fantilli has elite mobility. I'm not expecting Misa to be that strong of a skater, but maybe I'm wrong. If Misa is strong at most everything without any weaknesses, that is still a highly valuable player. But I understand your point and I've heard it expressed before that he doesn't have any telltale traits that define his game. I know his underlying metrics are supposedly off the charts strong. With the ES goal differential being uniquely good as well.

 

[Juxtaposer]

What are Misa's truly stand out traits that you want in a 1OA? Because I don't see them. They play different games but he reminds me of Fantilli in that they're both pretty good at everything but neither are twitchy nor have specific 1OA skills to point to.

I'd love to hear what people think of his traits.

I also can't get over the fact Saginaw plays to a race of 6 every game and basically everyone on that team scores, but that's probably nothing.

Logan Couture was a great two-way 1C for half a decade with exactly zero elite traits. No reason Misa can't be the same, and his skating is borderline elite.

 

[Rusty8719]

Logan Couture was a great two-way 1C for half a decade with exactly zero elite traits. No reason Misa can't be the same, and his skating is borderline elite.

I think most teams historically drafting 2nd overall would be happy getting a Couture with the pick, but it doesn't feel great.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I think most teams historically drafting 2nd overall would be happy getting a Couture with the pick, but it doesn't feel great.

Sure, but that's the reality of this draft. You aren't going to get a superstar at 2nd overall.

 

[HTFN]

I think most teams historically drafting 2nd overall would be happy getting a Couture with the pick, but it doesn't feel great.

You could always get a Yakupov instead if that helps, ride that sweet hype train and all those twitchy abilities right into utter disappointment instead of a career guy for the franchise if that scratches the itch.

Scouting isn't always sexy

 

[Torts]

Is anyone thinking Misa could usurp Schaefer as the #1 overall pick? The injury to Schaefer + the elite production from Misa would have me rethinking this if I had the #1 pick this year. Just saying...

 

[coooldude]

Is anyone thinking Misa could usurp Schaefer as the #1 overall pick? The injury to Schaefer + the elite production from Misa would have me rethinking this if I had the #1 pick this year. Just saying...

The public scout consensus seems to be "Schaefer #1 but you could argue Misa."

The limited insider quotes seem to still point to "Schaefer has it locked," but we haven't seen the volumes of fresh insider leaks/quotes come out (like EP's draft guide, Bob's final list, etc).

 

[Torts]

The public scout consensus seems to be "Schaefer #1 but you could argue Misa."

The limited insider quotes seem to still point to "Schaefer has it locked," but we haven't seen the volumes of insider leaks/quotes come out (like EP's draft guide, Bob's final list, etc).

Thanks for the reply! I get the whole "D is more premium position" mentality but Misa just continues to produce and produce which keeps making him more attractive at #1 in my opinion.

 

[crazyfisherman]

i honestly dont understand how schaefer has maintained hes number one slot. He was the consensus 1 but it wasnt that wide of a margin, then got injured. Misa since then has had an unbelievable run and i dont know if he couldve done better. schaefer remaining at number 1 just tells me there was absolutely nothing any other prospects could've done to surpass him, which is insane to me.

 

[PAZ]

If a team projects Misa to be a center he'll be in the running for the #1, but if they see him as a winger I have a hard time seeing him being the 1st name called to the podium.

 

[independent observer]

i honestly dont understand how schaefer has maintained hes number one slot. He was the consensus 1 but it wasnt that wide of a margin, then got injured. Misa since then has had an unbelievable run and i dont know if he couldve done better. schaefer remaining at number 1 just tells me there was absolutely nothing any other prospects could've done to surpass him, which is insane to me.

Misa got omitted from the wjc20, that cost him some goodwill among some scouts.

Why is anyones guess since Canada could have used a scorer like him.

 

[independent observer]

Logan Couture was a great two-way 1C for half a decade with exactly zero elite traits. No reason Misa can't be the same, and his skating is borderline elite.

Some also said that Nico does everything well but is in nothing elite.

Now he is one of the best two-way centers in the NHL. I think Misa might not be as good defensively but has more upside on offense.

 

[TheDoldrums]

i honestly dont understand how schaefer has maintained hes number one slot. He was the consensus 1 but it wasnt that wide of a margin, then got injured. Misa since then has had an unbelievable run and i dont know if he couldve done better. schaefer remaining at number 1 just tells me there was absolutely nothing any other prospects could've done to surpass him, which is insane to me.

Why is it insane? The other contenders aren’t going to suddenly develop better body types or tools for the NHL. Misa’s production is impressive but he doesn’t have a lot of skills that project as elite at the NHL level. It’s just easier to project Schaefer as an impact player and you don’t need a big sample size to see that.

 

[crazyfisherman]

Misa got omitted from the wjc20, that cost him some goodwill among some scouts.

Why is anyones guess since Canada could have used a scorer like him.

im not even sure it does now because its pretty consensus amongst everyone now that they just picked a terrible team. I certainly dont think it changed the perceptions of the Misa and Parekhs of the world, if anything they are names used to mock team canada.

 

[crazyfisherman]

Why is it insane? The other contenders aren’t going to suddenly develop better body types or tools for the NHL. Misa’s production is impressive but he doesn’t have a lot of skills that project as elite at the NHL level. It’s just easier to project Schaefer as an impact player and you don’t need a big sample size to see that.

but the projection on schaefer isnt that he will be a top 10D in the league stuff either. If hes a Dahlin lv prospect and missed half a year then sure I get it, but hes projections doesnt seem to be that. Maybe im wrong here, so feel free to correct, does schaefer not project to be more a weegar level defenseman? (caliber, not style, a top 20ish D in the league), does that separate himself that greatly to a couture caliber center?

 

[Star Platinum]

i honestly dont understand how schaefer has maintained hes number one slot. He was the consensus 1 but it wasnt that wide of a margin, then got injured. Misa since then has had an unbelievable run and i dont know if he couldve done better. schaefer remaining at number 1 just tells me there was absolutely nothing any other prospects could've done to surpass him, which is insane to me.

People make way too much out of OHL stats.

The Saginaw squad is heavily tilted towards offense in a high scoring league and they have a lot of elite scoring options on their roster. Every night they are trying to outscore their goaltending and their defense. Their team is one goal off of first place in OHL scoring, but fifth from last in goals against. A team with as much high-level talent as they have would normally be one of the top teams in the league, but they are only 4th out of 10 in their conference.

Misa has certainly done everything he could to be considered a high pick and he almost assuredly will be one of the first two off the board. But Schaefer is a more elite defenseman than Misa is a forward.

 

[frontsfan67]

i honestly dont understand how schaefer has maintained hes number one slot. He was the consensus 1 but it wasnt that wide of a margin, then got injured. Misa since then has had an unbelievable run and i dont know if he couldve done better. schaefer remaining at number 1 just tells me there was absolutely nothing any other prospects could've done to surpass him, which is insane to me.

Points aren’t everything

 

[ColbyChaos]

It is rather strange that Schaefer entered this year as a top 5 ish guy played like 3 months, got injured and still is listed as the favorite for #1. I feel like if this class had other strong Dmen his stock would have dropped a bit but since he is the only Dman projected to go high it is damn near impossible for him to fall. Shiny new toy syndrome if he was in last years class he doesn’t go top 3 given the strength of D that class

i honestly dont understand how schaefer has maintained hes number one slot. He was the consensus 1 but it wasnt that wide of a margin, then got injured. Misa since then has had an unbelievable run and i dont know if he couldve done better. schaefer remaining at number 1 just tells me there was absolutely nothing any other prospects could've done to surpass him, which is insane to me.

 

[Kingpin794]

A team with as much high-level talent as they have would normally be one of the top teams in the league, but they are only 4th out of 10 in their conference.

No we wouldn’t. One line teams are not top teams in the OHL. We’re exactly where we should be.

 

[crazyfisherman]

People make way too much out of OHL stats.

The Saginaw squad is heavily tilted towards offense in a high scoring league and they have a lot of elite scoring options on their roster. Every night they are trying to outscore their goaltending and their defense. Their team is one goal off of first place in OHL scoring, but fifth from last in goals against. A team with as much high-level talent as they have would normally be one of the top teams in the league, but they are only 4th out of 10 in their conference.

Misa has certainly done everything he could to be considered a high pick and he almost assuredly will be one of the first two off the board. But Schaefer is a more elite defenseman than Misa is a forward.

Saginaw is a one line team tho, they are one of the top scoring team because of Misa/Parekh/Chernyshov. I wish i could find the scoring leaders and team scoring stats on jan 1st for example (this date because it was before parekh went on an absolute heater till the end of the year and chernyshov being healthy again). I would bet prior to jan their team numbers werent great and you would not be thinking they have a bunch of elite scoring options, but Misa was still leading the league in scoring.

this isnt me purely judge numbers. I just find it weird that schaefer wasnt able to distance him self greatly from the misa/hagens of the world in Jan, misa elevated hes stock since then while schaefer has played 0 games, schaefer remains consensus 1 for some reason. even if the injury is not gonna affect anything going fwd, missing half a yr development time is still big.

 

[PDX Flyer]

I think most teams historically drafting 2nd overall would be happy getting a Couture with the pick, but it doesn't feel great.

The Flyers raise you a Nolan Patrick and JVR.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Couture had a strange career. On one hand, if he’s the #2 pick, you’d hope for a little more. On the other hand, I’d bet the list of players that have a 30 point playoffs and a 20 point (14 goals) playoffs is pretty exclusive. Tough career to judge

 

[ColbyChaos]

I think most teams historically drafting 2nd overall would be happy getting a Couture with the pick, but it doesn't feel great.

Eh Couture probably would have had a much better career if he went somewhere else.

You have to remember he was playing behind Prime Jumbo, Marleau, and Pavelski early on his career and then when the first two started falling off Hertl entered the picture San Jose had 3 great centers for the majority of his career until the inevitable fall off after 2016

 

[lakai17]

Misa got omitted from the wjc20, that cost him some goodwill among some scouts.

Why is anyones guess since Canada could have used a scorer like him.

Fortunately some nhl scouts are a lot more knowledgeable than those Canada world junior scouts. That was terrible

 

[Juxtaposer]

Eh Couture probably would have had a much better career if he went somewhere else.

You have to remember he was playing behind Prime Jumbo, Marleau, and Pavelski early on his career and then when the first two started falling off Hertl entered the picture San Jose had 3 great centers for the majority of his career until the inevitable fall off after 2016

Right, exactly. Couture was never the best center in SJ because after Thornton's best season in 2016, Hertl took over in 2018 as the team's 1C. Not his fault, but there was maybe one year where he was indisputably the Sharks' 1C.

I do think Logan's career would be remembered differently if he played elsewhere or if he hadn't gotten hurt in 2023. I do genuinely think he'd still be a 60 point two-way center even now if he hadn't had awful injury luck. If you end up with Logan Couture at #2 overall, you're probably okay with it. People want superstars at #2, but if you get a long-term top-30 C league-wide who won a gold medal with Canada at the Olympics, you're pretty happy.