OHL pals Micahel Misa, Matthew Schaefer could be at top of NHL draft

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Michael Misa has intently emulated John Tavares’s hockey path.

Misa and the Maple Leafs captain share Oakville roots, OHL exceptional player status in their early teens and dominance at centre in junior towards high selection at the National Hockey League draft.

The 6-foot-1 Saginaw Spirit star could even follow Tavares as the first overall pick of the New York Islanders, but that’s where the twain might not meet.

Good as Misa is, most mock drafts have 6-2 Erie defenceman Matthew Schaefer going first overall to the Island as winner of the Canadian Hockey League’s top draft prospect award on Friday in Toronto, while Misa would be available to join Macklin Celebrini on the rebuilding San Jose Sharks. Chicago is picking third, followed by the Utah Mammoth at the draft June 27-28 in Los Angeles.

Misa accepted the CHL’s top scorer of the year award, a trophy Tavares also copped with the Oshawa Generals. Misa had 134 points in 65 regular season games.

“He’s a guy I’ve looked up to since I got that exceptional status,” Misa said of Tavares. “It’s pretty cool he’s from Oakville as well. It seems they have a way of producing good players there.”

The left-shooting centre switched to wing for a bit, but enjoys driving the play down the middle. Just like Tavares, whom he’s met a couple of times and who has passed on some tips.

“His 200-foot game, the way he’s able to protect the puck at all costs and has a great shot,” Misa said. “I feel a lot more comfortable with the puck on my stick. I’ve tried to be that 200-foot player who can translate that at the next level.”

He and Tavares are lacrosse enthusiasts, both grieving the loss of their coach, Rob McDougall, at an annual memorial charity game.

Misa is also off-ice pals with Schaefer, as they and other top prospects just shared the scouting combine experience in Buffalo and a trip to the Stanley Cup finals on the media tour in Florida. Then it was quickly back to Toronto for the CHL awards — allowing Schaefer to cram in his high school prom Thursday night at St. John Henry Newman in Stoney Creek.

“I hadn’t been to a school event in a couple of years, so it was fun to be with my friends and my teachers,” he said. “To be a kid again back in high school is pretty special.”

But none of his classmates will be on national sports television in two weeks.

“This is a big step, there is so much talent in this draft, such as Misa and (Brampton’s) Porter Martone” Schaefer said. “There’s nothing you can control about the draft now, just enjoy it. “

Schaefer held his lofty position with Central Scouting despite playing only 17 games this season after breaking his collarbone. But he received plenty of attention at the Ivan Hlinka tournament.

“I took the 17 games as an opportunity,” he said of his bad luck. “A lot of guys played a lot more, but the reason I was ranked so high is I worked so hard in those 17 games.”

Schaefer received a lot of team support while idled. His injury wasn’t long after his mother, Jennifer, died of breast cancer in February 2024 after a two-year struggle.

“I play for her each and every day, carry myself based on how she did,” the ebullient Schaefer said. “I want to carry on her legacy. She came into a room and lit it up with her smile.”

He also lost his billet mother, Emily Matson, under sudden circumstances and this past season, the whole Otters team was rocked by the death of owner Jim Waters.

“It’s made me stronger,” said Schaefer of encountering the losses after leaving home for Erie. “But I’m playing the sport I love and I just want to be a good person.”

Central Scouting deemed this not a deep draft, but rich in good all-round character players  such as Schaefer and Misa. The latter won league academic recognition.

“My parents reinforced that school is important,” Misa said. “It can’t be hockey, hockey, hockey all the time, you have to have life outside of that. In future, when you’re talking to people, you don’t want to sound dumb.

“I like math, I took a kinesiology course, did an accounting class. I’d think I’d like to stay involved in the game as a coach or a GM.”

In other awards handed out Friday, Gavin McKenna, a 2026 draft prospect from Whitehorse, Yukon, was named the David Branch player of the year, the third youngest recipient after Tavares and Sidney Crosby. The Medicine Hat Tiger racked up 129 points in 56 games, including a 40-game streak.

Memorial Cup winning London Knight Sam Dickinson, who could be Misa or Schaefer’s teammate on the Sharks, was named defenceman of the year. Goaltender of the year was Jackson Parsons of the Kitchener Rangers and coach of the year, Gardiner MacDougall of the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats, had his club in the Cup final his first year after an outstanding career coaching the University of New Brunswick.