Cagnoni Excited To Join Sharks, Warsofsky Talks Star Prospect’s Meteoric Rise

Every kid who plays hockey has the same dream. They want that single phone call that will change their life forever. On Monday, Luca Cagnoni got that very call…but from an unusual source.

“I just got off the plane and Jimmy [Schuldt] texted me, said ‘Go light it up, up there,'”said Cagnoni, who had been with the San Jose Barracuda in Tucson.

Then San Jose Sharks management called, confirming that Cagnoni was headed to the show for the first time, replacing Barracuda captain Schuldt on the roster.

“My heart was beating all last night, and it was actually hard to sleep,” Cagnoni said, his excitement palpable, on Tuesday after his first practice. “Just super-happy.”

Cagnoni is set to make his NHL debut on Thursday, and his family will be there for him: His Vancouver-based parents and sister will be at SAP Center.

Prior to being called up by the San Jose Sharks, Cagnoni has tore up the American Hockey League in his first professional season. As a rookie, he’s found himself trailing only ex-Barracuda veteran Derrick Pouliot in points by a defenseman with 47 in 56 games.

“His tool set is something that we don’t have a lot of, in a sense of being a puck-moving defenseman,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky said.

5-foot-9 Cagnoni is slated to play alongside 6-foot-7 Vincent Desharnais on Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

They should complement each other, according to Warsofsky: “Vinnie defends pretty well, and takes away time and space, where that side of the game for Cags is in development.”

“He’s a little water bug out there, he reminds me of my D-partner in college, Jacob Bryson [of the Buffalo Sabres],” Providence College product Desharnais said. “Short, but really fast. Can make some really nice plays. I’ll take care of the physicality.”

Cagnoni joked about Desharnais: “I’m like half of him.”

Warsofsky's got jokes.

On why he put 5-foot-9 Cagnoni with 6-foot-7 Desharnais: "Average out the height."

Desharnais is Cagnoni's tallest partner ever, while Desharnais was paired w/ 5-foot-9 Jacob Bryson at Providence College

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 18, 2025

That said, Warsofsky wants more than offense from Cagnoni.

“They brought me up here to play my game and move the puck around to create offense and be good defensively,” Cagnoni said.

Warsofsky is looking for a strong defensive stick from Cagnoni, to compensate for his relative lack of height and strength.

Cagnoni will also get some time on the San Jose Sharks power play: He was running the top unit at practice on Tuesday.

“It’s one of his strengths,” Warsofsky said. “We want to try to, at some point, get away from the five forwards [on the PP].”

Cagnoni was second in the AHL with 22 power play assists, behind veteran forward TJ Tynan of the Colorado Eagles.

#SJSharks power play groups, Cagnoni getting a look on the top unit:

Cagnoni-Celebrini-Smith-Toffoli-Wennberg
Liljegren-Mukhamadullin-Eklund-Kovalenko-Graf

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 18, 2025

“He’s obviously played some good hockey,” Warsofsky stated. “Surprised us, in a sense.”

Going back to development camp last July, there was no guarantee that the 2023 fourth-round pick would even be with the Barracuda, as the 20-year-old was still eligible for his overage WHL season. And frankly, to begin with, it was against the odds for a 5-f00t-9 defenseman to make his mark in the NHL.

But Cagnoni has stacked a strong development camp and Rookie Faceoff and training camp and a truly eye-opening AHL rookie campaign…and now, in the course of less than one year, he’s made the NHL.

“He’s done a total 180 from just a couple of years ago,” Warsofsky said, comparing Cagnoni to a deer in the headlights in his first San Jose Sharks’ development camp in 2023.

Cagnoni’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric.

“It’s been such a fast year,” he said. “It’s been pretty unreal.”

Now, just one more boss level — granted, the most difficult, by far — for Cagnoni to prove all the doubters wrong.