Heading into this season, Oakville’s Luke Misa knew it was going to be the most important year of his life.
With Misa having a late 2005 birthday, he was ineligible to be drafted last summer with his CHL draft class.
Even if he was eligible to be drafted, he may have gone undrafted still for two reasons: one is his lack of production last year, and second for the simple fact that NHL scouts are wary drafting players under six feet tall. (According to eliteprospects.com, Misa clocks in at 5' 10").
But this year Misa has quickly put all of his doubters to bed. He's started the season on a tear by scoring 26 points in 19 games for the Mississauga Steelheads, and he's been centring the club's top line while leading the team in scoring.
Now he's shot up draft boards and has been labelled as a player to watch in this year's NHL draft.
So what have been the keys so far for Misa's success? He attributes it to two things.
The first are his linemates, the Steelheads' top line of former Oakville Blade and Ranger Mason Zebeski, 2004-born forward Zander Veccia on the wings and Misa in the middle has been a phenomenal line for Mississauga.
Along with Misa having 26 points, Zebeski has 10 points and Veccia has 12.
The second reason for Misa’s success, according to him, was his off-season training.
"The biggest thing this off-season was improving my strength," said Misa. "Since I was able to improve my strength, I think my shot has improved and also my skating has continued to improve."
"I think focussing on those main skills over the summer really helped me."
Although it's a big year for Misa, this is also a big year for Mason Zebeski as he's also hoping to be drafted in June.
Misa and Zebeski grew up playing together on the Oakville Rangers from a very young age and now look to push each other as they both pursue their dreams of being drafted into the NHL.
"It’s a huge year for both of us," Misa said. "We're both constantly pushing each other to improve. Whether that’s in practice or during our workouts off the ice…It helps a lot to have someone like him on the team."
Another big contributor to Misa’s game has been Steelheads Head Coach James Richmond. Richmond took a chance on Misa in the 2021 OHL draft after Misa had not played a hockey game in over a year due to COVID-19.
Richmond has put a lot of time and effort into Misa’s development in order to try and make Luke the best player he can be.
"JR [James Richmond] has been huge for my development," Misa said. "Coming in as a 15/16 year old in my first year he has been a huge help for me."
"He's helped me develop my game in all aspects and I really thank him for how much he has helped me."
Misa still has a long road ahead of him, the draft is not until June and he still has the majority of his OHL season left. But he's naturally given some thought about the draft.
"The draft is always in the back of your mind. But you try not to focus too much on it and try to focus on how you are playing on the day-to-day and making sure that you are improving your game."
If he keeps this pace up, we may be seeing another Oakville kid walk up onto the draft stage and shake NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s hand and look out onto the draft floor as a first-round pick.