LOS ANGELES >> Michael Misa had worn a Sharks sweater with a No. 25 on the back for only a few minutes on Friday. Still, he reiterated one central point after being selected second overall by San Jose in the first round of the NHL Draft: He wants to be wearing the team’s jersey when the season begins in October.

“My goal next year is to play in the NHL,” Misa said inside the Peacock Theater. “I’ve got a big summer ahead of me. Got to get stronger, help myself on and off the ice. But that’s my goal next year.”

Whether Misa begins his NHL career this fall or next year, the Sharks hope they have another player who can be a future cornerstone of the organization.

The Sharks ended weeks of speculation on Friday, selecting the dynamic Misa of the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit second overall in the newly decentralized NHL Draft.

After the New York Islanders, as expected, selected Erie Otters defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 overall pick, the Sharks drafted the 6-foot-1, 182-pound Misa, considered the best forward available in a draft that was deep in skilled centermen.

“It’s unbelievable,” Misa said of joining the Sharks organization. :”For San Jose to recognize me as this pick and head over there, it’s going to be a great feeling.”

It’s unclear whether Misa, 18, will be ready in the NHL full-time this upcoming season. But in time, he projects to be a top-six forward who could fit seamlessly into the already tantalizing top-six forward group that includes Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and William Eklund.

“Just help out in any way I can,” Misa said of joining that trio. “Just me being another young player to that group, I want to make an impact right away. Try and help any way I can.”

Going straight from major junior hockey to the NHL is rare, but not impossible. In 2023, Connor Bedard, considered a generational talent and drafted No. 1 overall, went straight from Regina of the Western Hockey League to the Chicago Blackhawks, and Zach Benson, drafted 13th overall, went directly from Winnipeg (WHL) to the Buffalo Sabres.

Could Misa, who the Sharks see as a center, do it, too? His new boss wasn’t ruling it out.

“When you get out there and it’s at NHL pace and things are happening faster than you’re used to, can you think and keep up? Can your decision-making stay on point?” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said. “If he’s going to be in the middle, can you defend and can you play against bigger, heavier (defensemen)? Can you get to the middle ice and do things that you’re accustomed to against bigger, stronger players?

“It’ll be up to him. He’s got the talent and everything, but we’re not going to put any pressure on him at all, and we’ll just see how it out camp and everything goes.”

Misa watched Celebrini, who was selected first overall by the Sharks last year, step right into the NHL this past season and score 63 points in 70 games. Celebrini was the league’s second-highest scoring rookie behind Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, who won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top first-year player.

“He’s a heck of a player,” Misa said of Celebrini. “Just being able to watch him this year, learn stuff off his game. I’m really excited to meet him in the near future.”

The Sharks found out at the May 5 NHL Draft Lottery that they would have the No. 2 selection and have now drafted inside the top seven four times since 2021, with Celebrini taken first overall last year, Smith the No. 4 pick in 2023, and Eklund going No. 7 to San Jose in 2021.

Misa won the Memorial Cup, major junior hockey’s championship, with Saginaw in 2024 and played with Sharks prospect Igor Chernyshov for three-plus months this past season. Chernyshov, selected 33rd overall by the Sharks last year, joined Saginaw in January after he recovered from shoulder surgery and had 55 points in 23 regular-season games.

“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with,” Misa said of Chernyshov. “He didn’t even speak English, so it was pretty impressive how we found each other out there.”

The Sharks selected Misa ahead of Swedish center Anton Frondell, Moncton Wildcats center Caleb Desnoyers, and winger Porter Martone of the Brampton Steelheads. Frondell went third overall to the Chicago Blackhawks, and Desnoyers was selected at No. 4 by the Utah Mammoth.

Forward Brady Martin went fifth overall to the Nashville Predators, and Martone went at No. 6 to the Philadelphia Flyers.

There had been considerable speculation in recent days that the Sharks were leaning toward taking the 18-year Frondell, who played against stiffer competition in Sweden’s second-best league this past year and still had 25 points in 29 games for Djurgardens. Frondell was considered one of the more physical players at the top end of the draft, while still possessing an elite shot and the ability to drive offense.

Grier said the Sharks decided some time ago that Misa was their guy.

“To have an opportunity to have him and Macklin and Will and (Eklund) and (Sam Dickinson and Yaroslav Askarov) all these guys to kind of grow together, especially having the strength down the middle,” Grier said, “we just thought it was too much of a special opportunity for us to pass up.”

Grier said there were discussions about moving the No. 2 pick.

“A few teams called about the pick, and we kind of went over some scenarios and what the offers were,” he said. “But we just felt that Michael was just too special a player for us to pass on.”

Misa had no control over what would happen, but felt he had a terrific interview over dinner with Grier and members of the team’s scouting staff during the NHL Combine in Buffalo earlier this month.

“It was such a casual dinner; didn’t feel like an interview at all,” Misa said. “Just was being myself.”

Did he think he would be a Shark after that sit-down?

“Just great conversations with them,” Misa said. “Nothing felt awkward at all. It was just keeping myself talking to them. And I thought they thought pretty highly of me. So it’s pretty cool to see them draft me.”