The National Hockey League’s 2025 Scouting Combine is finished. It is now less than three weeks until the NHL Entry Draft takes place in Los Angeles. When I first started learning how to scout, I asked which position should go first. Every mentor I ever had said the same thing: draft a defenseman first unless there was an exceptional forward talent available. I said this in my mock draft, and I will say again: the New York Islanders should use the first pick in the draft on Michael Misa.
Misa is the exception to the aforementioned rule of thumb. In my opinion, he’d do more to help jump-start the Islanders rebuilding process more than Matthew Schaefer could. But it is also more than just Misa being an exceptional talent, it is also because the Islanders are bare bones when it comes to top level talent up front.
Misa Checks two boxes: BPA and position need
If you look at the Islanders prospect pipeline and then ask if any of them would be a first-line center then the answer would be a loud no. Did you see what kind of record the AHL Bridgeport Islanders had in 2024-2025? They were 15-50-4-3, which was the worst record in the AHL. It was the second straight season the AHL Islanders had the worst record in the AHL. They had no talent at all, and it showed.
Lou Lamoriello traded away the Islanders first round picks from 2020-2023. Yes, they used their 2024 first round pick on Cole Eiserman while getting Calum Ritchie in the Brock Nelson trade.
Sorry, neither Eiserman nor Ritchie are true first-line talents. Both have sufficient weaknesses in their games to project as second line talent. This is not a knock on either prospect as both will eventually help the Islanders but not like Michael Misa can.
Last season Misa racked up 134 points (62 goals, 72 assists). The last player to put up those kinds of numbers during his draft year was Patrick Kane in 2006-2007 when he had 145 points (62g, 83a). And when you ask the scouts to whom they compare Misa to? They drop names like Kane, Connor Bedard, Connor McDavid, and Sidney Crosby.
This is not at all a knock on Matthew Schaefer. He is a talented defenseman with impact player upside. Rather, this is about which player will make more impact.
That player is Misa. Moreover, he could do it as soon as next season. Will he end up as a winger, rather than a center? Some observers have predicted this. I think he’ll primarily remain in the middle, and be a center in the NHL. Even if he doesn’t, he’ll be a first-line talent wherever he plays.
To me, it’s a slam dunk: the Islanders should use the Draft’s first pick on Misa.
I haven’t seen anyone comparing Misa to McDavid and Crosby. The fact that some don’t even know if he will be a center in the NHL tells you all you need to know. He will be a good player, but he is nowhere near the generational talent of McDavid or Crosby, who were surefire top line CENTERS in the NHL.
All that being said, I don’t think anyone would go crazy if he was the #1 pick. That speaks more to this years crop than anything else.
Maybe it is because you don’t read everyone.
Will this help you?
https://www.mlive.com/sports/2025/03/michigan-skater-compared-to-hockey-legends-ahead-of-nhl-draft.html
https://www.pensburgh.com/2025/5/4/24423143/2025-nhl-draft-rankings-2-michael-misa
There are several others who I doubt you know about who do in fact compare Misa to those I mentioned.
Thanks for reading