SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks rookies Michael Misa and Sam Dickinson will have to wait to make their respective NHL debuts.
Misa and Dickinson, recent first-round draft choices who cracked the Sharks’ 23-man roster to start the regular season, will both be healthy scratches Thursday when the Sharks host the Vegas Golden Knights in their season-opening game.
Misa, a center, was not on any of the Sharks’ four forward lines for Thursday’s morning skate at the team’s practice facility. Dickinson, as he has been in practice this week, was on the Sharks’ fourth defense pair with Vincent Desharnais.
Misa was taken second overall by the Sharks at the NHL Draft in June, and Dickinson was taken 11th overall by San Jose last year.
Thursday’s game starts a three-game homestand by the Sharks, who host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday and the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
#SJSharks lines, d-pairs at AM skate
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Goodrow-Gaudette-Reaves
Misa
Leddy-Klingberg
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Dickinson-Desharnais
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) October 9, 2025
Those games could be better opportunities for Misa and Dickinson to play in their first NHL games, as facing a big, heavy, Stanley Cup-contending team like the Golden Knights might not give those players the best chance at success right away.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said he understands some fans’ disappointment in not seeing two of the team’s top prospects in the lineup right away, but added, “We’re going to do what’s best for our team.
“We’re going to put the lineup out there that prepares us to win a hockey game tonight,” he added. “(Dickinson and Misa) are going to play. We know that, and trust me, they’re not going to be out all season or for a long period of time. They’re going to play. They’re going to help our team now and in the future.
“We understand that this is a tough team in the Vegas Golden Knights, experienced, fast, physical, big, long, and we’d be asking young players to step in after playing a lot of hockey in training camp and what have you. So they’ll play. This is the lineup I’m going to go with.”
The Sharks are also starting veteran goalie Alex Nedeljkovic against Vegas on Thursday, with Yaroslav Askarov, thought to be the team’s goalie of the future, backing him up.
Nedeljkovic won both of his starts for the Sharks in the preseason and stopped 52 of 53 shots for a .981 save percentage. Askarov didn’t play poorly, but went 0-3-0, and following the Sharks’ 6-4 loss to the Utah Mammoth last Saturday, finished the preseason with an .855 save percentage.
Warsofsky said he liked the way Askarov battled back against the Mammoth after the Sharks allowed four goals in the first period, but said, “just going with an experienced guy tonight against a really experienced team. It’s not anything that (Askarov) did wrong.”
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The 29-year-old Nedeljkovic, entering his sixth full NHL season, was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins to provide competition to Askarov, who was terrific throughout his AHL career but is entering his first full year at the highest level and wasn’t just going to be handed the No. 1 job.
“He earned it. Played really well,” Warsofsky said of Nedeljkovic. “We’ve got a lot of hockey ahead, and we’ve got to balance that out.”
Askarov still figures to get his share of games in the early portion of the season, as the Sharks play 16 games in the first 31 days of the season, including four back-to-backs. The Sharks play on consecutive nights 16 times this season.
“There’s inner competition for certain spots, and I know Ned’s not just gonna hand the net over,” said Warsofsky, who coached Nedeljkovic from 2018 to 2020 with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. “He’s a competitive guy. So we have two really good goaltenders that we believe in, and they’re both going to play. We decided to go with (Nedeljkovic) tonight.”
Please check back for updates to this story.