2025 NHL Draft notebook: Misa unfazed living up to exceptional status

The 2025 NHL Draft will be held in June at a site to be determined. NHL.com will take a closer look at some of the draft-eligible players to watch. This week, a profile of 17-year-old forward Michael Misa of Saginaw in the Ontario Hockey League, and preview of the inaugural Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game.

Michael Misa will be the only participating player in the inaugural Connor McDavid Ontario Hockey League Top Prospects Game to have something in common with the man of the hour at the Brantford and District Civic Centre in Brantford, Ontario, on Jan. 15.

That's because Misa (6-foot-1, 184 pounds), like McDavid, is one of nine players to have been granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada to play in the OHL as a 15-year-old. The left-shot center in 2022 joined Connor McDavid, John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Shane Wright, Connor Bedard, Joe Veleno, Sean Day and Landon DuPont, a defenseman with Everett of the Western Hockey League who added his name to the list at the end of last season.

Misa was selected No. 1 by Saginaw in the 2022 OHL Draft (McDavid was granted exceptional status in 2012, when he also was picked first by Erie in the OHL draft.) He leads the league with 62 points (30 goals, 32 assists) and ranks sixth in face-off wins (386-for-710; 54.4 percent) in 32 games this season. He has had no fewer than 22 goals or 56 points in any of his three OHL seasons, has won an OHL championship and Memorial Cup championship (2024), and is an A rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's December players to watch list.

"I think there's definitely a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations (with exceptional status), but I think I handled it pretty good coming to my first year," Misa said. "It's really something you got to control on the ice. You just play your game and do what you do, but block out everything else, so that's kind of the way I look at it. Just don't look at any outside pressure.

"I do feel a lot faster this year. I think that's something I've worked on, and it's going to help me for the next level because the game is even faster in the NHL."

Does he feel he's given enough credit for what he's accomplished in three seasons with Saginaw?

"I don't really look too much at outside noise," he said. "I just try to play my game each night and I think the credit will come if I keep doing what I'm doing. I like the way I'm playing. I feel a lot more confident with the puck this year. I think that Memorial Cup run we had last year really helped me gain that experience and coming back into this year, I just feel like a different player."

Saginaw coach Chris Lazary has noticed.

"I know this summer he came back to camp at the 185-190-pound range and his overall strength has helped his on-ice with his skating and his puck battles," Lazary said. "But he's now playing center, after playing wing the previous two seasons, and is better down low, responsible. We've tried to get him to understand that when it comes to goal-scoring, if you can break out clean, the better your chances you're getting O-zone time. As good as he is, I think there's still another level there that he's going to develop into and make him that much better of a player."

Lazary will coach the Western Conference in the McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game. McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers captain, will have his No. 97 retired by the Otters in a ceremony at Erie Insurance Arena on Jan. 10. He'll be the third Erie player to have his number retired, joining Vince Scott (18) and Brad Boyes (16).

"He's the best player probably ever to play in our league, arguably, and to be a part of something where he gets to come back, and you get to see him in person and see a jersey go up and be associated with that name ... I think it's special for anybody," Lazary said. "I think we're looking for the next guy to kind of do the same thing and there's players in our league now who will be the next names of hockey.

"Anytime you get to see what we call hockey royalty, whether it's Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby ... it still brings out the little kid in you. I think we'll have a lot of guys at that game just being fans when they see [McDavid] and catch themselves in awe, which I think is the coolest part of our game."

Players selected as most valuable player for their respective teams will be recognized with the Connor McDavid 97 Award. Misa was one of seven from the OHL invited to the game who are projected as a potential first-round candidate in the 2025 NHL Draft, per NHL Central Scouting.

Here are the six other A rated skaters (listed alphabetically):

Kashawn Aitcheson, D, Barrie: The left-shot defenseman (6-1, 196), who possesses offensive flair and a lot of feistiness, has 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) and 11 power-play points (four goals) in 32 games with Barrie.

Brady Martin, C, Sault Ste. Marie: Martin (6-0, 178) plays in the trenches, earns big minutes and has fine creativity and finish with the puck on his stick. The right-shot center has 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) and six power-play goals in 28 games with the Greyhounds.

Porter Martone, RW, Brampton: Martone (6-3, 208) is one of three Brampton players representing Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship (goalie Jack Ivankovic, forward Carson Rehkopf). The 18-year-old has averaged 9:29 of ice time in two games. Prior to leaving for World Juniors, Martone led the OHL with a 2.08 points-per-game average (54 points; 21 goals, 33 assists) in 26 games. He's one of just three first-year NHL Draft-eligible players in the CHL to be captain of his team.

Jake O'Brien, C, Brantford: Named the 2023-24 OHL rookie of the year when he led all first-year players in assists (51) and points (64), O'Brien (6-2, 172) possesses great hands, puck skills and creativity and good finish. The right-shot center has 48 points (20 goals, 28 assists) in 35 games this season.

Matthew Schaefer, D, Erie: The 17-year-old left-shot defenseman is having an extraordinary season but will be out three months after sustaining a broken collarbone playing for Canada against Latvia in the first period of the second game at the 2025 WJC. Schaefer had surgery in Ottawa on Dec. 30, per his agent Pat Morris of Newport Sports Management, Inc. He has 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 17 games for the Otters this season. His replacement in the McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game will be Guelph defenseman Daniil Skvortsov, a C rated skater on Central Scouting's December players to watch list.

Malcolm Spence, LW, Erie: Spence (6-1, 203) has 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 31 games of his third OHL season. He's a great skater and tough to handle down low. "It's going to be surreal seeing [McDavid's] number retired," Spence said. "There are some guys, even though their numbers aren't retired, you say, 'Hey, you're not taking that number, are you?' because those belong to those guys for what they did for the organization. And McDavid's one of them, right? He's the best player in hockey right now. I think we're all just excited to even get the chance to hear him speak and to meet him."