By Nick Nollenberger (@NickNollen)
Luca Cagnoni has been proving he belongs his whole life, even when others don’t see it straight away.
By the primary 5 months of his skilled profession, all spent with the Barracuda within the AHL, the 20-year-old is placing collectively the most effective offensive seasons for a Sharks blueline prospect—perhaps ever.
He leads the league in power-play factors (31), six forward of the subsequent closest participant, ranks second in power-play assists (22), and is tied for fourth in power-play targets (9). Amongst defensemen, he’s second in factors (47) and tied for second in targets (13).
It wasn’t clear within the fall if he’d start his professional profession this season, as there was an choice for him to return to his junior crew, the Portland Winterhawks. However as Sharks camp unfolded, he stored sticking round and was one of many last cuts earlier than the season started.
“We stored an open thoughts with Luca, realizing it’s actually laborious to play on this league (AHL) as a 19-year-old,” mentioned Barracuda Normal Supervisor Joe Will throughout a January convention name with the media. “He was enjoying like he belonged, and that was the turning level for me.”
For a participant with such offensive items, it’s laborious to think about he wasn’t all the time this manner. However the Burnaby, B.C., native can pinpoint the precise time, crew, and coach that gave him the inexperienced mild to make offensive performs, unlocking the most effective elements of his recreation.
“I used to be 13… the coach was named Leland Mack. He was an enormous abilities man. It was my first 12 months the place, as a defenseman, I used to be doing abilities day by day, fine-tuning my recreation,” mentioned Cagnoni. “I simply labored on it rather a lot, and he began to provide me the inexperienced mild. I began enjoying energy play that 12 months, and the targets and assists began coming. I sort of simply discovered my recreation there.”
“I feel he’s most likely giving me an excessive amount of credit score,” mentioned Leland Mack, Cagnoni’s former coach on the Burnaby Winter Club. “Children lately don’t wish to hear what they will’t do; they wish to hear what they will do. With Luca and all of the defensemen, I informed them, ‘You need to play protection, however you’ve additionally received to play offense.’ So I all the time pushed for that full participant.”
Though hockey has turn into sooner and extra expert, dimension continues to be a commodity coveted by NHL organizations—and in Luca’s case, even amongst junior groups.
Due to his dimension, or lack thereof—five-foot-nine, 180 kilos—some evaluators and coaches, proper or mistaken, have put a glass ceiling on his profession. However what the measurables don’t reveal is his NHL-caliber hockey sense and elite skating potential.
Rising up 20 minutes outdoors Vancouver, Cagnoni dreamed of enjoying within the Western Hockey League (WHL). Regardless of being a standout on the Burnaby Winter Membership—a program that has produced numerous NHL stars, together with Islanders ahead Mat Barzal and Oilers ahead Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, together with legends like Paul Kariya and six-time Stanley Cup champion Glenn Anderson—he was not drafted into the WHL.
Groups preferred his recreation, however at five-foot-two and perhaps 145 kilos, they hesitated.
“After I didn’t get drafted, I received invited to 2 camps—Winnipeg, once they have been nonetheless Winnipeg, and Spokane,” mentioned Cagnoni. “I went to their camps, and so they mainly mentioned, ‘We’ll preserve watching you.’ My first recreation of the season throughout my U15 12 months, I assume Portland was there, and so they referred to as me that evening and listed me. A few months into my season, they signed me.”
Because of COVID, WHL groups expanded their rosters, opening the door for Cagnoni, who had already begun contemplating NCAA applications. Together with his sights nonetheless set on the WHL, all he wanted was an opportunity.
“The way in which Portland performs permits a defenseman like that to flourish,” mentioned Mack. “It was an ideal match, and he was so good there. Regardless that I scout for a special crew, I feel I might need informed him, ‘That’s going to be the right place for you.’”
The remaining, as they are saying, is historical past. He made Portland’s roster and rapidly turned a budding star within the league. In his draft 12 months, 2023, he scored 17 targets and added 47 assists in 67 video games.
All through Mike Grier’s tenure as Sharks normal supervisor, the group has emphasised drafting massive gamers. However there have been exceptions.
“He thinks the sport at an unbelievable degree,” mentioned Sharks director of participant improvement Todd Marchant throughout improvement camp this previous summer time. “He isn’t the most important participant, however he is sturdy in his decrease half and strong on his ft.”
Final season, Cagnoni led all WHL defensemen with 90 factors and 72 assists, ending tied for third among the many group with 18 targets in 65 video games with the Portland Winterhawks. He earned U.S. Division First All-Star Crew recognition and have become the primary WHL blueliner since 1993-94 to achieve the 90-point threshold, ending 9 factors away from the next-closest defenseman.
One would possibly assume a smaller, offensively gifted junior participant would want to enhance defensively to succeed as a professional.
After all, each participant should refine their recreation, however Cagnoni has been extremely efficient defensively this season. His skating and hockey IQ permit him to make use of angles and powerful stick positioning to interrupt up performs. His elusiveness helps him keep away from taking massive hits.
Whereas some is likely to be stunned by his defensive potential on the professional degree, his former coach shouldn’t be.
“That U15 prep division is one of the best of one of the best. That 12 months, we needed to play in opposition to Connor Bedard six or seven instances,” mentioned Mack. “I don’t ever keep in mind considering or saying, ‘You’ve received to defend higher, Luca.’ Our crew wasn’t bruising or laborious to play in opposition to, but when your angles and stick positioning are good and you may separate the participant from the puck, that’s the last word objective.”
Vancouver is a hotbed for expertise, so should you stand out, you’ve most likely received a brilliant future. Cagnoni was one in all three defensemen from his Burnaby Winter Membership U15 crew to be drafted into the NHL, alongside Mats Lindgren (Buffalo) and Aiden Celebrini (Vancouver), the older brother of Sharks ahead Macklin Celebrini.
It wasn’t unusual for NHL gamers—and even hockey royalty—to be across the program within the spring and summer time. Mack even recalled seeing Scotty Bowman watching one in all their practices from the stands.
Again in February, The Athletic ranked the Sharks’ prospect pool No. 1 within the NHL. Cagnoni was listed as their No. 5 prospect—the one participant within the prime 11 not chosen within the first two rounds of the NHL Draft.
The key is likely to be out: the Sharks could have discovered one thing particular of their 2023 fourth-round choose. With San Jose promoting on the commerce deadline, Mike Grier didn’t rule out the potential for Cagnoni making his NHL debut earlier than the season’s finish.
The Barracuda lead the league in power-play proportion (24.31%), with 56 power-play targets—six greater than the next-closest crew. Cagnoni has been on the coronary heart of that success, already setting a single-season franchise report for power-play targets, assists, and factors by a defenseman.
“Misleading—that’s the primary phrase that involves thoughts with him,” mentioned Barracuda head coach John McCarthy. “He’s capable of shake defenders on the breakout or in transition, and on the offensive blue line, each five-on-five and on the facility play, he’s capable of create time and house along with his imaginative and prescient and skating.”
Regardless of the doubters, Cagnoni has proved he can play at each degree of his profession. Now, the subsequent field to examine is the NHL.
