Oakville’s Misa off to fast start in NHL draft year

Oakville’s Michael Misa is serving early notice to NHL scouts.

The Saginaw Spirit forward, who is in his NHL Draft year, is off to an impressive start with 10 goals in his first five games, not only an OHL high but the total tops all CHL scorers despite both the QMJHL and WHL having played more games.

Misa is just the second OHL player in the past 27 years to score 10 goals through his first five games of the season.

The 17-year-old Misa, given special exemption status that allowed him entry into the OHL a year earlier as the first overall pick of Saginaw in 2022, also has two assists for 12 points.

The six-foot-one, 127-pound forward is not wasting any time building on the hype that had him pegged as one of the top prospects this year.

He is well on his way to passing his career-high of 29 goals set in 67 games last season when he helped lead Spirit to a Memorial Cup title.

Saginaw general manager Dave Drinkill told INhalton.com just before the Memorial Cup tournament in May of this year that the young player he knows would be a fine addition to any NHL team.

“Any NHL team, when they get to know Michael as a person and watch him play next year, they’re going to be really happy to have a kid like that in their organization,” he said. “With Michael and his exceptional status comes scrutiny. They’re going to be picking apart his game a little bit because he (will have) been in our league for three years (this season), but that’s part of the territory and I know Michael will rise above it and he’ll be raring to go.”

NHL scouts have long had an eye on the talented forward after he broke Connor McDavid’s tournament scoring record with 30 points in seven games as a member of the U-16 Mississauga Senators at the 2022 OHL Cup.

Misa is just the eighth player in CHL history to be granted exceptional status (underage entry into the league). He was named the OHL Rookie of the Year in 2022-23 after recording 22 goals and 34 assists in 45 games.