Last week, we discussed how Michael Misa could be one of the San Jose Sharks’ top breakout candidates heading into the 2026-27 season. The first step in him doing so starts at training camp, as he needs to earn the Sharks’ second line center role. Standing in Misa’s way is likely veteran centerman Alexander Wennberg. Wennberg, who is set to begin his third season with the Sharks, brings a solid 200-foot game and is coming off one of the best offensive seasons of his career. Last season, the Swedish center scored a career-high 18 goals and totalled 55 points, the second-most of his career and his highest tally since the 2016-17 season. If he’s able to keep up the momentum that he built last season, Wennberg is a capable second-line center for the time being, but the Sharks would certainly prefer to see Misa take a major step forward and earn that job as soon as possible. As the second-overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Sharks undoubtedly would love to see Misa develop into a strong secondary option behind Macklin Celebrini, who won’t be giving up the top-line duties for potentially the next two decades. If that happens, it would allow the Sharks to have a partnership similar to that of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton, or even potentially similar to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Of course, expecting Misa to come out and match Celebrini’s sophomore point totals is entirely unrealistic, but the first step to him proving that he can become the Draisaitl to Celebrini’s McDavid is simply earning the second-line center job. In order to do so, he’ll have to improve significantly on both ends of the ice. Offensively, Misa was performing at a solid pace given his limited playing time over the course of the season. If he maintained a similar pace across a full season, he’d tally roughly 40 points, which is a respectable number for a player his age, but not enough to surpass Wennberg, especially since Wennberg is more reliable on the defensive side of the ice. If Misa is able to start strong in training camp and maintain a 60-point pace while showing significant improvement in his own zone once the season gets underway, then it’ll be safe to assume he’ll win over Ryan Warsofsky and earn the second line center job for the foreseeable future. While it wouldn’t be the end of the world for Misa to spend a season as the Sharks’ full-time third line center, it would certainly be preferable to see him develop even further as soon as possible. As for Wennberg, if he comes out of the gate with a strong performance and seems on pace to duplicate his form from last season, it’s his job to lose at that point. In the long-run though, he’s a perfect fit for the Sharks’ third line as they look to move out of the rebuild.
