{"id":209655,"date":"2026-03-08T00:32:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T00:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/209655\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T00:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T00:32:17","slug":"with-liljegren-gone-whos-coming-up-to-sharks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/209655\/","title":{"rendered":"With Liljegren Gone, Who’s Coming Up To Sharks?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the San Jose Sharks moving Timothy Liljegren<\/a> to the Washington Capitals<\/a>, that leaves the NHL roster with six defensemen.<\/p>\n

Liljegren was scheduled to be a healthy scratch for the fourth consecutive game. Sharks GM Mike Grier<\/a> didn\u2019t appear to have an immediate replacement for the blue line. Stating that the team will likely wait to recall anyone before tomorrow\u2019s game against the New York Islanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Sharks GM was asked about potentially calling up veteran Nick Leddy or even prospects like Luca Cagnoni or Nolan Allan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at it. If we get through tonight allright, and we get through Saturday okay, then we\u2019ll definitely have to make a decision,\u201d Grier said. \u201cWhether that\u2019s Leds or one of the younger guys coming up to meet the team in Buffalo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leddy hasn\u2019t played a game<\/a> for the San Jose Barracuda<\/a> since he cleared waivers on Jan. 19 and was sent down.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been a good pro. [For] someone who\u2019s been in the league as long as he has, I know it wasn\u2019t easy for him to have to go on waivers and get sent down. But he\u2019s practiced hard. He\u2019s been good in the weight room and been good with the group over there, just, you know, hasn\u2019t felt comfortable playing down there yet,\u201d Grier said. \u201cHe\u2019s kept an open mind to all possibilities. I\u2019m sure he was hoping to maybe get moved somewhere and get an opportunity. The way it\u2019s shaken out, there\u2019s a chance he can work his way back up here and possibly help us out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shakir Mukhamadullin<\/a> has put together a good stretch of games since returning to the San Jose Sharks lineup against the Edmonton Oilers. If that continues, the Sharks may be hesitant to take him out of the lineup, regardless of who comes up. If Mukhamadullin plays the rest of the season, the recall could be merely for depth. \\<\/p>\n

The case for Cagnoni or Allan<\/p>\n

If it is for depth only, calling up a prospect like Cagnoni might not be the smartest. If he comes up to the NHL, he needs to play, even if it is a limited role. Grier did confirm that \u201cas far as prospects go,\u201d Cagnoni and Allan are the most likely to be called up.<\/p>\n

Grier spoke on Cagnoni\u2019s development this season, stating that the 21-year-old set expectations for himself that might\u2019ve been too high after a strong rookie season.<\/p>\n

\u201cCag\u2019s season has been pretty good. I think he set the expectations probably too high from how he did last year. But he\u2019s been good,\u201d Grier explained. \u201cHe\u2019s taking steps in his defending, and his rush reads and things like that. Some of the stuff the coaches have asked him to focus on. He\u2019s improving, and he\u2019s growing as a player, and he\u2019s still really good on the power play and distributing pucks and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cagnoni has not had the same offensive impact as last season but has remained productive. In 50 games, the San Jose Sharks prospect has 32 points (6 goals, 26 assists). The knock on Cagnoni has always been his size. The defenseman is listed at 5\u20199, 180lbs. Grier also mentioned that, given his offensive ability, opponents have a bigger target on his back.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe also has a target on his back, so he\u2019s learning to deal with that. He gets run, or guys try to run him and be hard on him physically. So it\u2019s all part of his growth, but he\u2019s handled it well,\u201d Grier said. \u201cHe\u2019s a tough kid, so it\u2019s been a good season for him. I think he might say he wants a little bit more production, but I think he\u2019s doing what we\u2019re asking of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Allan, the defenseman was acquired from<\/a> the Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> and has become a solid player for the Barracuda. In 19 games with the Cuda, Allan has two goals and six assists. The 22-year-old has become a strong defender for John McCarthy\u2019s group.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for Nolan, he\u2019s been real solid for us. I think once he got used to the new D zone system and how we play in the D zone, he\u2019s been good,\u201d Grier said. \u201cI think his skating and his physicality is something that we don\u2019t have a lot of in our group down there. Real good guy. Sticks up for his teammates. He\u2019s made a good impression with us. And his first-pass ability and puck-moving are probably even a little bit better than we maybe initially gave him credit for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grier finished by believing that no matter what, Allan or Cagnoni will get an opportunity to be with the San Jose Sharks before the end of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the San Jose Sharks moving Timothy Liljegren to the Washington Capitals, that leaves the NHL roster with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[3521,4401,4352,65313,88,97,90,89,98,11966,755],"class_list":{"0":"post-209655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-luca-cagnoni","9":"tag-mike-grier","10":"tag-nick-leddy","11":"tag-nolan-allan","12":"tag-san-jose","13":"tag-san-jose-barracuda","14":"tag-san-jose-headlines","15":"tag-san-jose-news","16":"tag-san-jose-sharks","17":"tag-sharks-prospects","18":"tag-sj-sharks"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}