Two San Jose Sharks prospects invited to Canada’s World Juniors training camp
SAN JOSE — Center Michael Misa and goalie Josh Ravensbergen were two of the 27 players named Monday to Canada’s National Junior Team training camp roster, giving two more San Jose Sharks prospects the opportunity to play for their respective countries at the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championships.
The 18-year-old Misa, taken second overall by the Sharks at the NHL Draft in June, was one of 15 forwards invited to the camp, which will run from Dec. 12-22 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Ravensbergen, who was taken 30th overall in June and turned 19 in November, is one of three goalies on the camp roster.
Barring injuries or other additions, both Misa and Ravensbergen figure to be with the Canadian team on Dec. 26 when the tournament begins in Minnesota. Each country is allowed to bring up to 22 skaters, which historically has meant 14 forwards and eight defensemen, and three goalies.
Misa, an Oakville, Ontario native, had three points in seven games with the Sharks this season before he sustained a right ankle sprain on Nov. 5 during a morning skate in Seattle. But he progressed from the injury in recent weeks, was placed on long-term injured reserve last week, and is now on a conditioning assignment with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL.
Misa had an assist in the Barracuda’s 4-3 overtime win over the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday and was held scoreless in San Jose’s 6-2 loss in the rematch on Saturday.
“This is a competition against (Misa’s) peers,” Todd Marchant, the Sharks’ director of player development, told Bay Area News Group on Monday. “So the expectation is for him to be able to show what he’s capable of doing at that level. We’ve obviously seen him play some games in the NHL this year and some games in the American League as well.
“It’s all part of the development process. No two paths are the same, and Michael will take his own path as to what’s the next step for him.”
Ravensbergen, who is from North Vancouver, B.C., was named the Western Hockey League’s Goalie of the Month for November after he won eight of 10 starts and posted a .940 save percentage with the Prince George Cougars. Entering this week, Ravensbergen led the WHL with 16 wins and was fourth with a .921 save percentage.
“It is super special to get that call,” Ravensbergen said Monday via the Cougars’ website. “I’m really excited to go, put my best foot forward, and I can’t wait.”
Ravensbergen didn’t play any preseason games with the Sharks in training camp, but impressed at the team’s development camp this summer and the rookie camp in September.
“He’s been great,” Evgeni Nabokov, the Sharks’ director of goaltending, told Bay Area News Group on Monday. “He’s very athletic — we don’t want to take this away from him — and he just reads the play really well. He’s doing a really good job.”
Other Sharks prospects could join Misa and Ravensbergen in the best-on-best under-20 tournament, including center Cole McKinney, a 2025 second-round pick who was named to the U.S. National Junior Team’s preliminary roster on Dec. 1. McKinney, taken 53rd overall, has 11 points in 20 games as a freshman at Michigan.
Another prospect, goalie Christian Kirsch, has been named to Switzerland’s World Junior team, and the Sharks organization expects defenseman Leo Sahlin Wallenius to be on Sweden’s roster.
“It’s great to see these kids having the success they are,” Marchant said.
Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson was not on Hockey Canada’s World Juniors training camp roster, but for the next two weeks, the governing body is leaving spots open on the team for players who are now in the NHL.
The Sharks had to give permission for their players to take part in Canada’s camp, and as of late last week, were undecided on whether to loan the 19-year-old Dickinson, who has played in 23 of the Sharks’ 30 games this season.
“As of right now, and for the next little bit, I’m worried about playing (in the NHL) and being in the Sharks’ lineup and doing what I can to help win here,” Dickinson said on Dec. 3. “But it’s a win-win. Playing in the NHL or competing for a gold medal, it’d be great either way.”
Sharks management will have to decide what to do with Dickinson going forward, if they haven’t already.
The Canadian World Junior team is coached by Dale Hunter, Dickinson’s coach with the London Knights from 2022 to 2025. Mark Hunter, the Knights’ general manager, is part of Canada’s management group.
“Early on, I thought that Sam didn’t have the success, maybe instantly, that he wanted to have,” Marchant said. “The game is fast, it’s big, it’s physical. But you look at his makeup, he is a big, strong kid, and it took him a little time to get to that point.
“There’s still young mistakes. You watch (Sunday’s game in Carolina). But then sometimes he makes really great plays where he breaks a play up, and then he jumps up into the play and makes it an odd-man rush.”
Before the start of the World Juniors tournament, the Canadian junior team will play Sweden in exhibition games on Dec. 17 and 20.