Mack vs Leno and the tension of the BC Line when what we really need to be focusing on is the Will-Misa blood feud.
Like, Will does not act like he fucks with Mis and frankly Mis doesn’t act like he fucks with Will. And Will was already not inclined to really make it easy for Misa right away, given that the Sharks were drafting a different future 2C. Obviously, it ended up being for the best because Will loves playing on Mack’s line but was he kind of ticked off because everyone just expected that shift, that they were all like well with a 2OA of course you’d rather play on Mack’s wing than compete for the 2C spot? Probably. So he takes it out on Misa, who he doesn’t even think is actually that good, actually. And then he met Misa and also just generally didn’t fuck with him.
Going all the way back to the draft a year ago where Will did the NHL Draft backstage vid where Will is actually on good behavior when Misa walks in. He’s asking not pointed questions being genuine and like clearly feeling him out, but then it's so clear that he is just deeply unimpressed. I mean, he was barely holding back an eye roll at one point and was not as amused by Misa's suit jacket lining being him winning the ohl final and "just a picture of myself that I liked" as Zeev was, who thought that was hysterical.
It’s always Will saying “all the young guys” or Sam also saying “the four young guys,” never naming names, which kinda feels deliberate given it’s supposed to be the same people except they’re deadass never together ever outside of group functions and even then they are #nottogether. (Literally every full group photo from an event and Will and Mack are on the complete opposite end of the entire team from Dickie and Misa).
And Misa doesn’t like Will either. Second overall, future 2C, but will never be second best boy on the Sharks because Mack and everyone else fucking adores Will. Toff that one time saying Will is the little brother he never had, like even Misa’s hockey foster dad adores this kid who's been sneering at him for no reason since June. Mean girl Will vs teen douchebag Misa—it’s unstoppable force meets immovable object. Misa thinks he’s better than Will as the teen douchebag boy ego does, and Will thinks he’s better than Misa because he’s got an ego of his own. Both think the other is overrated.
And obv Mack and Sam have their sides in this but not for any personal reasons, Mack likes Misa just fine and Sam likes Will just fine, they’re just backing up their guy, they have chosen their sides and accepted their fates. Like imagine Will showing up to cat and toff's house with fresh zucchini bread or some shit carefully wrapped in christina marleau's nice plastic wrap complete with a tasteful ribbon and also a note that specifically says "for cat & toff, love you both!" just to be passive aggressive, Mack trailing in after him hoping to god Misa is out for the day bc he is nawtttt in the mood to be in between that to melt Will's ice towards Misa.
Also, Mack kinda gets a kick out of it too. Usually HE'S the one who has to be handled and managed and someone else (aiden or will) has to smooth things over after Mack ruffles someone's feathers unintentionally. So Mack is absolutely thrilled that HE gets to be the one like “ahh dont mind him.” for Will because he's NEVER the guy that people like more on a personal level and he didn't even have to work for this one because Will is being mean!!!! So of course Misa likes Mack more and it's double the fun because Mack LOVES when will gets mean he loves that he makes all these mean asides but only for mack and its a joke just for the 2 of them.
Also, because Mack fucking loves Will’s mean streak, half the time actually it's Sam doing all the middle man action keeping the situation light with his great sense of humor and ability to distract Misa while Mack looks at Will all adoringly, as he does.
Theres also Will not including anyone other than Mack in his end of season dump and Mack included a few more people but NOT Misa, and then Misa included damn near everybody except for the wackles. Hysterical btw bc how do you make a Sharks end of season photo dump that somehow does not have Mack in it lol. Anyway, shoutout the Will-Misa blood feud.















