Misa Tops 2025 Draft Class as Scouts Spend $10K USD in UFHL Futures Auction
Breaking a Connor McDavid record will put any prospect on the radar of every scout. Earning exceptional player status and subsequently getting selected first overall raises the profile into rare air. So it was no surprise that Michael Misa was the target of a bidding war for the No. 1 pick in the 2022 UFHL Futures Auction that featured top prospects from the 2025 NHL draft class.
Misa, who broke McDavid’s scoring record at this year’s OHL Cup showcase before going No. 1 to the Saginaw Spirit, was selected by Dan Nadeau of the Prestige Worldwide scouting agency after a winning bid worth $940 USD of SCORE Coin (SCO) — the official currency of the UFFS platform. That was more than Macklin Celebrini as the highest-selling prospect ($750 USD) from last year’s Futures Auction for the 2024 class, and nearly double the next highest seller among his 2025 peers. Nadeau came out of the gates aggressively, also grabbing Jordan Gavin of the Tri-City Americans with the second overall pick ($510 USD) to give Prestige Worldwide two stellar forwards in their stable that also includes standout Finnish defender Aron Kiviharju as a contender for first overall in 2024, having been the third-highest seller ($645 USD) last summer.
Top Notch Scouting’s Tal Klaudt also took two forwards in the Top 5 — Kale Dach, no relation to Kirby and Colton despite hailing from the same hometown, and Victor Eklund, the younger brother of San Jose’s top prospect William Eklund, who went seventh overall in last year’s NHL draft. Rounding out the Top 5, at fourth overall, was Gabriel D’Aigle to Horse Lake Scouting’s Andy Charanduk as one of the highest touted Canadian goaltenders since Marc-Andre Fleury went first overall in 2003 and Carey Price followed at fifth overall in 2005. That is setting the bar awfully high for D’Aigle — no relation to Alexandre Daigle, the forward who failed to live up to his hype as a first overall pick from 1993 — so perhaps Jonathan Bernier (11th in 2006) and Pascal Leclaire (8th in 2001) are more realistic comparables to temper expectations for D’Aigle, who was one of only two goalies taken in this year’s Futures Auction. The other was Sweden’s Love Harenstam at 61st overall for only $40 USD compared to $400 USD for D’Aigle.
Horse Lake Scouting added Adam Benak for the same price at eighth overall as a flashy forward from Czechia. Tina Johnson of the CanWest Scouting Agency and Nelson Martins of Wise Guys Prospects both landed a couple talented forwards in the Top 10, with CanWest taking James Hagens and Anton Frondell before the Wise Guys took Malcolm Spence and Roger McQueen.
There was a real run on forwards outside of D’Aigle, accounting for nine of the Top 10 and 18 of the Top 20. The first defender off the board was American Logan Hensler at 19th overall, also to the Wise Guys for $200 USD. Three more blueliners cracked the Top 25 with Will Sharpe of the Lethbridge Hurricanes (21), Henry Brzustewicz from Shattuck St. Mary’s (22), and Reese Hamilton of the Calgary Hitmen (24). American forward LJ Mooney, the cousin of this year’s third overall pick Logan Cooley, snuck in there at 23rd as something of a faller — snatched up by Horse Lake Scouting for $160 USD.
Shockingly, there wasn’t a single Russian prospect taken in this year’s Futures Auction — none, zero, zilch among the Top 64 for the 2025 draft class — though several Russians will surely be selected in the upcoming Open Market Draft on Aug. 3-4 before the best of the rest are available on the regular Open Market starting Aug. 5.
When the dust settled on this three-hour auction that saw 64 selections, 12 scouts and agencies combined to spend $10,360 USD of SCO. Horse Lake Scouting wound up investing the most at $2,160 USD, while Wise Guys Prospects walked away with the most players at 12 — followed by Horse Lake Scouting and the CanWest Scouting Agency, both with 11.
Here is a full recap of the results from the 2022 UFHL Futures Auction by selection order, by sale price, and by scout/agency (listed in order of most invested to least):
Results By Selection Order
1) Michael Misa — $940 USD to Prestige Worldwide (Dan Nadeau)
2) Jordan Gavin — $510 USD to Prestige Worldwide (Dan Nadeau)
3) Kale Dach — $560 USD to Top Notch Scouting (Tal Klaudt)
4) Gabriel D’Aigle — $400 USD to Horse Lake Scouting (Andy Charanduk)
5) Victor Eklund — $400 USD to Top Notch Scouting (Tal Klaudt)
6) James Hagens — $420 USD to CanWest Scouting Agency (Tina Johnson)
7) Anton Frondell — $390 USD to CanWest Scouting Agency (Tina Johnson)
8) Adam Benak — $400 USD to Horse Lake Scouting (Andy Charanduk)
9) Malcolm Spence — $200 USD to Wise Guys Prospects (Nelson Martins)
10) Roger McQueen — $250 USD to Wise Guys Prospects (Nelson Martins)
11) Cullen Potter — $250 USD to Wise Guys Prospects (Nelson Martins)
12) William Moore — $300 USD to Wise Guys Prospects (Nelson Martins)
13) Zachary Morin — $250 USD to Horse Lake Scouting (Andy Charanduk)
14) Aaron Obobaifo — $200 USD to CanWest Scouting Agency (Tina Johnson)
15) Masun Fleece — $180 USD to Prestige Worldwide (Scott Blair)
16) Tomas Pobezal — $200 USD to Horse Lake Scouting (Andy Charanduk)
17) Liam Kilfoil — $200 USD to CanWest Scouting Agency (Tina Johnson)
18) Albin Laksonen — $170 USD to VIP Sports Management Inc. (Nick Taylor)
19) Logan Hensler — $200 USD to Wise Guys Prospects (Nelson Martins)
20) Cooper Dennis — $190 USD to Top Notch Scouting (Tal Klaudt)
21) Will Sharpe — $170 USD to Horse Lake Scouting (Andy Charanduk)
22) Henry Brzustewicz — $160 USD to Brennen Kopp (Independent)
23) LJ Mooney — $160 USD to Horse Lake Scouting (Andy Charanduk)
24) Reese Hamilton — $150 USD to CanWest Scouting Agency (Tina Johnson)
25) Porter Martone — $150 USD to Wise Guys Prospects (Nelson Martins)
26) Nathan Lecompte — $160 USD to Daniel Kanhai (Independent)
27) Jakob Ihs Wozniak — $120 USD to Daniel Kanhai (Independent)
28) Blake Fiddler — $160 USD to Horse Lake Scouting (Andy Charanduk)
29) Cole Mckinney — $110 USD to Wise Guys Prospects (Nelson Martins)
30) Cole Reschny — $140 USD to Horse Lake Scouting (Andy Charanduk)
31) Conrad Fondrk — $120 USD to CanWest Scouting Agency (Tina Johnson)
32) Cole Temple — $110 USD to Wild West Scouting (Nick Uttley)
33) Jan Chovan — $110 USD to Horse Lake