Another NHL draft is approaching after this season ends and there is a lot of young talent spread across Canada’s three leagues hoping to get their name picked. For the Mississauga Steelheads, Luke Misa has been a big name who is looking to get his name in for the upcoming draft.
On paper, he has already shown a lot of promise with 13 goals and 31 assists in 28 games. But even with the impressive 44 points to make him one of the top producers in the league, those numbers do him a disservice if you only look at them.
In his first season in the 21-22 season, he has shown a lot of potential. He took a back seat to players such as James Hardie and Montreal Canadien’s draftee Owen Beck. But two years later he is now he is the points leader of the team and the first-line centreman of the team. But what makes him so good?
Misa is a smaller player in the league. He is 5.10 and only 175 pounds. Despite that, there have been a lot of smaller players that have come into the league and have been on the smaller side. Usually, smaller players can’t rely on their physical game as often and to stick out they have to be great technical players.
Watching Misa is like watching a genius at work. When he is in the offensive zone it is a terrifying feeling for the defensemen. Whatever the best action to get the puck in the net, Misa will pick it. If he has to shoot, he will shoot and often score. If he can’t find a way to score and sees an opportunity to make a play, he will do it in only a few seconds.
That is what makes him the points leader on the Steelheads and competing with people much older than him in the league. He slows the game down for him but speeds the game up for the people who have to interpret what he is doing.
But where is he expected to be drafted in June?
There is a lot of talent in the first round of next year’s draft. Boston University centreman Macklin Celebrini is expected to go first and London Knights have the highest OHL pick just inside the top five with Sam Dickinson.
Realistically, Misa could easily go into the bottom half of the second round. It depends on how he grows this season and what scouts see out of him. But with how he has been performing on the ice, he could be moved up to the top half of the second round. May even get a nod for a late first-round pick if he fits a team’s specific qualities they want.
But telling Misa this would probably be futile. He is a player who is thinking about his next game and not where he will be drafted this upcoming year. But if teams are looking for a young playmaker who can get pucks on your stick for a goal, then he will be a huge consideration in this upcoming draft.