Why isn’t Michael Misa playing against the New Jersey Devils?

Is it the match-up, against the Eastern Conference leaders? Misa sat out against the New Jersey Devils last week.

“Not so much in this case tonight,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said, noting that tonight is not a back-to-back, like in New Jersey.

Warsofsky did add, “A lot of hockey this week, so got to manage it.”

The San Jose Sharks do play four games this week, Tuesday versus the Los Angeles Kings, tonight against the Devils, a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday.

These aren’t clear stated reasons to sit out the 18-year-old, who had an impressive eight shots in just 10:10 of playing time against Los Angeles.

So we’ll have to dig a little deeper then? Two reasons come to mind, caveat, these are my opinions.

First, despite the gaudy numbers, Misa struggled in the first period against the Kings, getting stripped of the puck on multiple occasions.

“Urgency from the puck drop [wasn’t as great]. It’s a hard league to play in,” Warsofsky said about Misa’s performance. “These guys are understanding that and what it takes to prepare your bodies, mentally, physically, to get ready to go for an 8 o’clock start, 7 o’clock start, time change, schedule, practice the next day. It’s a lot on you mentally, more than probably physically.”

Of course, credit to Misa, like the rest of the team, for picking it up after the opening frame. But eight shots in 10 minutes isn’t the only story about his game, that’s my point.

Second, perhaps more importantly, and at a level above Warsofsky’s pay grade, the Sharks are at 49 of their maximum 50 contracts. Once Misa and Sam Dickinson play their 10th NHL game, their contracts are not slide-eligible anymore and will count against the 50.

Dickinson is playing his ninth NHL contest tonight (Misa is at six), so let’s say the top defensive prospect gets his 10th game, that’s 50 Sharks’ contracts. You can’t go over that.

In that scenario, slow-playing Misa’s march to No. 10 makes sense, because the Sharks have to get rid of — perhaps in a trade? — a pre-existing NHL contract. That takes time and is easier said than done.

San Jose Sharks (2-6-2)

Warsofsky, by the way, was armed with a one-liner when asked about Dickinson getting his ninth game tonight.

“He plays great tonight,” Warsofsky quipped. “He’ll stay.”

How many goals and assists does Dickinson, pointless through eight games, have to score tonight?

“Six goals,” he laughed.

Alex Nedeljkovic will start.

Shakir Mukhamadullin will draw back into the line-up, as Adam Gaudette goes on IR.

Misa will come out in favor of Patrick Giles.

These are how the Sharks should line up:

Toffoli-Celebrini-Smith
Eklund-Wennberg-Kurashev
Graf-Dellandrea-Skinner
Goodrow-Giles-Reaves

Orlov-Liljegren
Ferraro-Klingberg
Dickinson-Mukhamadullin

Nedeljkovic

Credit to Patrick Giles for earning the call-up above more prominent San Jose Sharks prospects on the Barracuda.

The message from the Sharks to Giles?

“Just keep doing what I’ve been doing down in the Barracuda,” Giles said. “A lot of that is faceoffs, penalty kill, playing hard and not straying away from that.”

New Jersey Devils (8-2-0)

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Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils is at 7 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.