Michael Misa has a lot of tools. He’s a strong skater with a high motor and excellent puck skills across the board, but the details in his game are what currently have him contending for the first-overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

As the first exceptional status OHLer since Shane Wright, Misa’s trajectory last year seemed to indicate he would profile similarly to the Seattle Kraken’s fourth-overall pick in 2022: a safe, smart, calculated centre. However, Misa’s production — and the tools he uses to generate it — have taken off massively this year.

Clocking in at a goal and an assist per game so far, the Saginaw Spirit’s top-line centre has been one of the OHL’s very best this season. Off the puck, he anticipates rotations, predicts opponents’ intentions, and strikes with meticulous timing.