Once the San Jose Sharks told Michael Misa last week that he would be staying in the NHL for the rest of the season, it became a matter of when the team would take the necessary next step of making room for the rookie center’s entry-level contract.
It happened on Friday, as the Sharks traded minor league defenseman Kyle Masters and a 2026 fourth-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2027 fifth-rounder originally owned by the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Sharks were at the maximum of 50 NHL contracts, so trading Masters for only a draft pick creates an opening for the team to add Misa’s deal to their contract ledger.
Misa, 18, played his ninth NHL game of the season on Thursday in the Sharks’ 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals. When Misa plays his 10th NHL game, possibly as soon as Friday night against the Detroit Red Wings, the first year of his entry-level deal will be burned, and it will become the Sharks’ 50th contract.
Misa has three points in nine NHL games.
The 22-year-old Masters, initially acquired from Minnesota in October, might have been low on the Sharks’ organizational depth chart, as he appeared in only 10 games for the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder and not with the AHL’s Barracuda.
Please check back for updates to this story.
Leave a Reply