SAN JOSE - The first few days of Sharks training camp have already given the staff a look at two younger players making noise for different reasons.
Ivar Stenberg is standing out for the kind of hockey sense that lets him absorb information quickly and apply it right away. Luca Cagnoni is turning heads with his offense, but also with the progress he’s made away from the puck.
For Cagnoni, a 2023 draft pick trying to win a spot on the Sharks roster out of camp for the first time, the early returns have been strong. Coach Ryan Warsofsky said Friday that Cagnoni has backed up a pair of good practices with solid work in scrimmages, and the left-shot defenseman has spent the first two days alongside veteran Dmitry Orlov while playing the right side.
“He’s stacked two really good days,” Warsofsky said Friday of Cagnoni, a Sharks’ fourth-round pick in 2023. “Another guy who looks a little bit bigger and stronger and a little bit quicker.
Conditioning-wise, the NHL is a whole other beast. He did a lot of work this summer training, and he looks confident with the puck, so he’s going to get a good opportunity.”
That offensive touch has never really been the question. Cagnoni has 95 points in 131 career AHL regular season games over two seasons with the Barracuda, and he also put up big numbers in the Western Hockey League.
What the Sharks need to see now is whether the 5-foot-9 defenseman can hold up against bigger, heavier NHL players over the course of a season. San Jose appears to have room for a sixth and seventh defenseman on its 23-man roster to begin the year, but Cagnoni’s path will depend on consistency and whether he can handle the league’s physical side.
Warsofsky said the young defenseman has made clear strides there, even if Friday brought a rough moment when 6-4, 212-pound center Zack Ostapchuk drove him into the boards at the end of a battle drill.
“Cags has come a long way,” he said. “His skill and being able to make plays and run a power play is obviously unique, but he’s come a long way defending and understanding what’s coming at him throughout the game. Whether that’s off the rush, whether that’s in D-zone coverage, whether that’s off a faceoff and a box out, or you’re fronting, his details have come a long way in understanding what situation he’s in to put him - as a smaller defenseman - in the right spots.
“Orlov can really help him, and (Michael) Kesselring and (Darnell) Nurse, and these guys that have kind of been through it, but Cagnoni has picked up these things. I know it’s been three years, but he’s picked it up. That’s pretty good for a defenseman.”
Kesselring has noticed the same thing. In a defense group that leans big, Cagnoni’s ability to move the puck and create something different stands out.
“He’s kind of our offensive spark plug (on defense), and he can make some plays,” Kesselring said. “He can get involved.”
Stenberg, 18, has also looked the part so far. The No. 2 overall pick in June’s NHL draft has started camp on a line with Alexander Wennberg and Collin Graf, and Warsofsky said Friday that his skill showed up in the scrimmage while his mind has been just as impressive.
“For me, it was his smarts. His hockey sense is really good, sees the ice really well, and has been picking up our systems quickly.
We’re trying to work on the English a little bit, and he’s starting to understand it. (Wennberg) has helped him.
“But you show a clip, and then 10 minutes later he’s out there practicing it, and he’s picked it up really well.”
The Sharks open their preseason schedule Sunday afternoon against the Ducks in Anaheim.
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