For a long time, one truism held when it came to evaluating NHL defenders. You could have all the puck skills in the world, could be the hardest-working player on the ice, could be the fastest skater on the team, or could be the smartest guy in the rink. None of that mattered if you were below 6 feet tall.
Since the turn of the century, however, this reality has begun to change, with teams slowly awakening to the possibilities opened up to them by considering the undersized, offensively gifted defensemen who light up the lower leagues. This was what led the Sharks to take a gamble on Luca Cagnoni in the fourth round of the 2023 draft.
Position: Defense
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 183 lbs
Age: 18
Date of Birth: December 21, 2004
Draft Year: 2023, 123rd overall by the Sharks
Shoots: Left
2023-24 Team: Portland Winterhawks
On the ice, Cagnoni did virtually everything that could be asked of him, putting up 64 points in 67 games for the Portland Winterhawks. A sprightly, pocket-sized offensive dynamo, Cagnoni’s diminutive frame often belied his ability, and he is a surprisingly strong player renowned for being one of the most intelligent players in his draft class.
His rise has served to be nothing short of remarkable, especially considering that he only got an opportunity because the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Winterhawks to be short on players. In 2021-22, he was the top-scoring defenseman among 2023 draft eligibles despite getting relatively meager ice time. In 2022-23, Cagnoni saw his playing time spike and rewarded his team by being among the top five offensive defensemen in the entire WHL.
Cagnoni is considered by scouts, models and experts to have potential akin to a typical first rounder’s, and his ceiling is immense. His underlying metrics are in line with those of many other successful defensemen, and his nose for goal and overall offensive instincts are remarkable. There’s a reason he fell to the fourth round, however, and a reason that numbers don’t always translate across levels.
In junior hockey, the level of competition is much lower, and many players can flourish despite having obvious flaws that make an NHL career challenging as a result. Usually, we see evidence of this through physically-mature but technically-deficient players using their frame to bully the other kids on the ice, before finding that the same physical gifts don’t necessarily translate to success in the NHL. Sometimes, however, it comes in the form of small players not being able to make the jump due to the higher levels of physicality in professional leagues.
Sharks fans might remember Jayden Halbgewachs, a 5’9” forward who put up jaw-dropping overage numbers in the WHL and got signed by the team as a result. While he was able to translate some of that success into the AHL, Halbgewachs played just 3 NHL games before bouncing to Sweden, where he now plays as a third-line tweener.
The fear among senior talent evaluators is that Cagnoni’s career could follow a similar arc, as the physical demands of the upper leagues may overwhelm him to the point where he cannot use his supreme hockey intellect to compensate for his slight frame. After all, there’s a clear reason that there are still so few blueliners with Cagnoni’s build in the NHL, and it’s not just down to coaching bias.
These concerns may seem slightly unfair to many observers, of course. Cagnoni had a much better draft year than most of the players taken ahead of him, and if he had just two inches of extra height, he’d very likely have gone in the top ten. To date, he has done everything that could be expected from a prospect and more, and the skepticism surrounding him amounts to an uncertainty in projection rather than a knock against his skillset. But it doesn’t change the reality that it is extremely difficult for a defenseman under 5’10” to crack the NHL.
Given his ceiling and his obvious offensive gifts, however, Cagnoni could well become one of the players that bucks the trend, and it makes him the perfect late-round pick for any team. San Jose, of course, was ecstatic to take the gamble.
What we like
Nearly everything. Cagnoni is a good skater with impressive reach, mobility and strength, and he is an excellent passer with an incredible nose for goal. He’ll almost certainly need to be paired with a more defensively-minded player to compensate for his offensive approaches occasionally pushing him out of position and his slight frame, but players with this type of hockey IQ are few and far between.
If you’re looking for a player comparable, think of Torey Krug, another 5’9” defender who has had a very successful NHL career.
Areas of improvement
This is tough because Cagnoni can’t really do anything about his height, which is the biggest knock against him. However, he’ll likely need to become even stronger than he already is to compensate for his frame, and he’ll likely try to improve both his defensive positioning and his tendency to do too much on the ice. Both of these are common flaws with offensively-minded junior hockey players, however, and there’s little reason to think he cannot improve them with time.
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