Luca Cagnoni knows a thing or two about being underestimated. The impactful defender was passed over in his WHL draft year. Too small. But then the Portland Winterhawks gave him a chance to show his stuff at practice. That stuff was good enough for him to be given a contract after just 30 minutes. He's been proving his skills every day since. 

Now, in his draft-plus one season, the undersized back is really making some noise. 

Probably my favorite clip of Luca Cagnoni (#73 dark). Look how he protects the puck, turn in on that RW to come straight down main street, but instead of shooting, places it perfectly for his winger for a tap-in. That vision is going to translate.#SJSharks pic.twitter.com/2FIPV7BZoC

— Fantasy Hockey Lifer - Victor Nuño (@VictorNuno12) December 2, 2023

Cagnoni was selected in the fourth round by San Jose last June. The EP Rinkside team had Cagnoni ranked 34th overall, so this potentially represents a massive value for the Sharks. Why did he fall so far? Well, he is only 5-foot-10 and 172 pounds so that is the primary reason. He is known as an offensive defenceman, and we’ll examine if that is accurate as we dig in. T