With the San Jose Sharks' playoff hopes all but dashed for this season, it appears they'll be looking toward the future in their final three games of the season.
On Sunday morning, the Sharks announced that they have recalled defenseman Luca Cagnoni from their American Hockey League affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.
While it's safe to expect that Cagnoni will be among those players returning to the Barracuda for their upcoming playoff run, he's likely going to be getting his first NHL action of the season ahead of that.
Cagnoni, the Sharks' fourth-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft, has appeared in six career NHL games, all of which came last season. During that time, he recorded two assists.
In 67 games with the Barracuda this season, Cagnoni has scored eight goals and a total of 43 points from the blue line this season. That's quite a regression offensively compared to the 2024-25 season, when he finished with 16 goals and 52 points in 64 games.
Regardless, as an under-sized defenseman, Cagnoni's main contribution will be his ability to move the puck and quarterback the power play. As David St-Louis of Elite Prospects put it, "Luca Cagnoni has some Lane Hutson in him."
While Cagnoni likely won't be the type of player who sees time on the Sharks' top-pairing in the long-run and he doesn't have the same upside as Hutson by any means, he has the ability to be a reliable power-play specialist on the second or third pairing at some point in the future. Now he has the opportunity to put himself in position for the future to be as soon as next season.
