Michael Misa is still waiting to turn flashes into trust. The San Jose Sharks forward has shown bursts of offense and a sharp edge in puck battles, but he is averaging only 13:50 of ice time because Ryan Warsofsky has not yet signed off on a bigger role.
That is why Misa’s name is drawing attention now. He was selected second overall in the 2025 Draft, and the scale of his usage still looks closer to a player being managed than one being unleashed. He has surpassed 15 minutes of ice time in a game only twice this season, a sharp contrast with Macklin Celebrini at 22:13 and Alex Wennberg at 19:44.
Warsofsky’s view has been consistent. “He’s coming along nicely,” the coach said. “When he’s playing with pace and his feet are moving, he can make plays. We’ve seen that. He’s improving.” He added that the game will slow down for Misa defensively, but that is still the area that needs work. When Misa is skating and moving with pace, Warsofsky said, he is dangerous. That is the version of him the Sharks want to see more often.
The numbers explain why the staff is encouraged and cautious at the same time. Misa leads all Sharks forwards in 5-on-5 Successful Passes Per 60 and owns the best puck recovery rate among the team’s forwards. He has also won 81.8 percent of his puck battles this season, a steep jump from 36.7 percent last year. But he has attempted fewer 5-on-5 shots per 60 than Wennberg and Barclay Goodrow, which suggests the game is still being filtered through his development rather than his production alone.
That mix of promise and restraint is the friction in his season. Misa has offensive flashes, but he has also had defensive miscues, and Warsofsky keeps returning to the same boundary line: the offensive skill is obvious, but the defensive side must catch up before the minutes follow. For now, the coach is treating his growth as a process, not a reward system. “The game will slow down for him defensively,” Warsofsky said. “That’s an area that he obviously needs to continue to work on.”
Game day put that balancing act in plain view. The Sharks were scheduled to play the Bruins at 8 p.m. on, with SharksAudioNet carrying the radio broadcast, and Misa was listed on a line with Stenberg and Sherwood. However the night unfolds, the next step is the same: keep skating, keep the pace high, and give Warsofsky fewer reasons to hold the ice time back.
