Luca Cagnoni

June 2025- While everyone looks at how incredible the pipeline for San Jose’s top-six is, Luca Cagnoni helped direct attention to the incredible blueline pipeline that also deserves the spotlight. Only turning 20 in December, Luca Cagnoni’s AHL rookie campaign was one of the best by a 20 year-old or younger in the AHL in years. Cagnoni’s 16 goals, 36 assists and 52 points in 64 games represented a 0.81 points-per-game pace, which is 5th best by a U21 defenseman in the AHL since 2009. This puts him ahead of seasons by Shea Theodore, Evan Bouchard, and Vince Dunn at age 20. He wasn’t just an assist machine, he was third in goals by pointmen in the AHL, and the two players ahead of him were much older, and one was a forward eligible player. He gained powerplay experience, quarterbacking his way to 34 powerplay points, and he could be but a few short seasons away from doing the same for the Sharks. Alex Wyatt.

July 2024 – After a phenomenal 2023-24 WHL campaign, recording 90 points in 65 games, Cagnoni signed his entry-level contract in May. Likely starting the 2024-25 season in the AHL, Cagnoni boasts high-end offensive potential from the blue line and is someone fantasy owners should monitor this season. John Gove

June 2023 – Cagnoni was selected 123rd overall by the Sharks. Pat Quinn

April 2023 – So much of Cagnoni’s game flows through his incredible intelligence; his breakout passing is calculated and layered with deception, his off-puck support — whether that’s off the rush or in the offensive zone — is meticulous, and he is constantly shifting the angle of his shot from the blue line, opening up shooting lanes for himself and making it easier for his forwards to tip his shots on goal. When Cagnoni gets the puck, he doesn’t delegate his problems — he solves them. Unfortunately, the market is ruthless when it comes to smaller defensemen with average skating. Cagnoni is likely not going to be a top-20 selection, but his intelligence is among the best, if not the best, among this year’s blue-liners, and we would definitely take the risk based on its upside. Whichever team drafts him in the mid-second round is getting a first-round talent, with lots of potential. Hadi Kalakeche

December 2022 – Cagnoni’s off to a strong start to the season with the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL, playing in all situations on the top pair, top power play and top penalty kill. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound defender isn’t the biggest, the strongest, nor the fastest, and yet he is a bright spot on the Winterhawks. The reason behind his success and his coaches’ trust is his top-of-the-class hockey mind.

Cagnoni is constantly scanning and taking in information on his surroundings, keeping in mind both threats and outlets consistently. On top of that, he blends in shockingly good small-area skill to manipulate the former and exploit the latter. He can go from retrieving a puck to jumpstarting the breakout with a single five-foot pass, can rid himself of a forechecker and open up ten feet of ice for himself to skate out of the zone unchallenged with a single head fake, and regularly sifts through the four or five options available to him as a blue-liner to opt for the better one.

His weaknesses are physical; his upright posture and extended knees limit his explosivity on pivots and sometimes result in him getting to dump-ins after the forechecker, and he struggles to exit pressure along the boards as well. His physicality is limited, and he can get outmuscled on 50/50 battles. Adjust his edgework and posture, however, and there is a dominant top-four NHL defenseman waiting to be developed in Cagnoni. He warrants a first-round pick, and should climb up our rankings by the end of the season. Hadi Kalakeche