{"id":468567,"date":"2026-09-19T01:56:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T01:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/468567\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T01:56:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T01:56:22","slug":"sharks-cagnoni-in-pole-position-for-opening-night-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/468567\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharks’ Cagnoni In Pole Position For Opening Night Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day two of San Jose Sharks training camp has come to a close, and defenseman Luca Cagnoni<\/a> has \u201cstacked\u201d two strong days in a row.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old has had two cameos for the Sharks, but looks primed to break into the NHL full time this season. Through two days of camp, Cagnoni has been paired with Dmitry Orlov<\/a>. Fellow young defensemen Eric Pohlkamp<\/a> and Nolan Allan<\/a> are paired together. Pohlkamp and Allan are considered bubble players behind Cagnoni right now.<\/p>\n

Freshly extended San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky has been impressed with Cagnoni\u2019s play so far. While Cagnoni is known for his offensive skill, Warsofsky praised other parts of his game that don\u2019t show up in the box score.<\/p>\n

\u201cStacked two really good days. Another guy [who] looks a little bit bigger and stronger and a little bit quicker conditioning-wise,\u201d Warsofsky said. \u201cCags has come a long way. His skill and ability to make plays and run a power play is obviously unique, but he\u2019s come a long way in defending and understanding what\u2019s coming at him throughout the game. Whether that\u2019s off the rush, whether that\u2019s in D zone coverage, whether that\u2019s off a face-off and a box out, or you\u2019re fronting. His details have come a long way in understanding what situation he\u2019s in.\u201d<\/p>\n

First half of the scrimmage, Luca Cagnoni played the right side (his off side). In the second half, Orlov played on the right. Both are lefties, so they are trying out what works best. From what I’ve seen, having Orlov on the left and Cagnoni on the right works better. Cagnoni\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) September 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Although the defenseman hasn\u2019t spoken to reporters yet at camp, the eye test shows that he\u2019s put in the work to make the jump. Warsofsky obviously won\u2019t reveal the opening night roster, but he says Cagnoni will have an opportunity this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, the NHL is a whole other beast. He did a lot of work this summer training and looks confident with the puck. So he\u2019s gonna get a good opportunity,\u201d Warsofsky said.<\/p>\n

Warsofsky also talked about the veteran additions to the Sharks\u2019 back end that will help the young d-man.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve added some veteran guys. I think Dmitry Orlov can really help him. Kesslering and Nurse and these guys that have been through it,\u201d Warsofsky said. \u201cBut Cags has picked up these things. I know it\u2019s been three years, but he\u2019s picked it up. That\u2019s pretty good for a defenseman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cagnoni could also be the frontrunner for the San Jose Sharks\u2019 top power-play unit. He\u2019s shown in previous games that he can play with Macklin Celebrini<\/a>, Will Smith<\/a>, and other top unit guys with ease. His placement in the Teal Group and Sam Dickinson\u2019s<\/a> in the Black Group could indicate which unit he could start with.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Dickinson SHD spotted Dickinson working the point<\/a> of a power-play unit with many of last season\u2019s PP2 players. That included Igor Chernyshov<\/a> and Michael Misa<\/a>. The other two players on the unit were Ivar Stenberg<\/a> and Alexander Wennberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With Cagnoni in the same group as the Sharks\u2019 proverbial top line and PP1 players, he will get first chance.<\/p>\n

Finally, there is one more optical reason for Cagnoni to crack the opening night roster: his gear. Players in the AHL must wear AHL-branded equipment (except skates), unless given a special exemption. On day one of training camp, Cagnoni sported Bauer pants, gloves, and a stick.<\/p>\n

Another sneaky sign Cagnoni is in a good spot to make the #SJSharks<\/a> a gear change. He’s using Bauer. Pants, Gloves, and Stick are all Bauer. Other than skates, all AHL outward gear is CCM unless you get a special exemption.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) September 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

It is unclear when Cagnoni\u2019s first preseason action will take place, but the Sharks visit the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> on Sunday for their 1st preseason game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Day two of San Jose Sharks training camp has come to a close, and defenseman Luca Cagnoni has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[5400,3521,1036,88,90,89,98,8628,11966,755],"class_list":["post-468567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-dmitry-orlov","tag-luca-cagnoni","tag-ryan-warsofsky","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-san-jose-sharks-roster","tag-sharks-prospects","tag-sj-sharks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468567","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=468567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}