AHL Shuffle: 4/17/26
Several smaller-profile moves will come across the wire today. Teams done with their seasons are sending their fringe talent back to the AHL for postseason play, while teams bound for the first round of the playoffs could be making some small alternations as well – in particular, settling on their “emergency” third goalie as the league permits for the playoffs. We’ll keep track of those moves today:
- The Flyers announced they’ve recalled goaltender Aleksei Kolosov from AHL Lehigh Valley and reassigned Carson Bjarnason there in his stead. Bjarnason was up just yesterday for practice, but it now appears they’ve re-evaluated and will prefer to have the more experienced Kolosov as their #3 behind Daniel Vladař and Samuel Ersson to begin their clash with the Penguins rather than Bjarnason, a first-year pro. With Lehigh Valley now eliminated from playoff contention, there’s no use keeping Kolosov down there to try to get them in. Kolosov, who has a 5-11-1 record and a .863 SV% in 21 career NHL appearances, will be eligible to enter a playoff game as an emergency backup if both Vladař and Ersson leave with injuries.
- The Flames have reassigned forwards Rory Kerins and Aydar Suniev, as well as goaltender Arsenii Sergeev, to AHL Calgary following last night’s season finale against the Kings. Sergeev, 23, was exceptional in his first career start, guiding Calgary to a 4-1 win while posting a .964 SV% and saving 2.6 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck. Kerins and Suniev were both late-season call-ups for the Flames once the playoffs were no longer a possibility but didn’t do much in their reps, combining for one assist (Suniev’s) in 10 games. There won’t be any playoff action in store for the trio; the Wranglers are last in the AHL’s Pacific Division and won’t be heading to the Calder Cup Playoffs.
- The Blue Jackets have added goaltending prospect Evan Gardner to AHL Cleveland’s roster, per a team announcement. The 20-year-old’s Saskatoon Blades in the WHL were swept out of the second round of the playoffs by Prince Albert this week. The 60th overall pick in 2024, Gardner will be turning pro full-time next season with either Cleveland or somewhere in the ECHL (Columbus is one of the few teams without a designated affiliate). His entry-level contract remains slide-eligible for this season, so it won’t kick in until 2026-27. He had a .902 SV% and 2.96 GAA – both great numbers for career-lows – in 52 games for Saskatoon in his third and final junior season.
- The Sharks have assigned winger Igor Chernyshov and defenseman Luca Cagnoni to AHL San Jose for the Calder Cup Playoffs, per Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest. It could very well be the last AHL action of Chernyshov’s career. The 20-year-old looks well on his way toward being a top-six piece from the drop next season, rattling off a 9-10–19 scoring line in 28 games of call-up action this year while seeing significant time on Macklin Celebrini‘s left wing. The 2024 second-rounder also had 13 goals and 33 points in 41 AHL games to date. Cagnoni, a 5’9″ lefty, had only been up for the last few games to get an end-of-season look once the Sharks were eliminated from playoff contention. The 21-year-old went pointless in three games after seeing a six-game debut last season. He leads Barracuda defensemen in scoring with an 8-35–43 line in 67 games.
- The Oilers have added Calvin Pickard back from AHL Bakersfield to serve as the EBUG behind Connor Ingram and Tristan Jarry in the postseason. Pickard started the season as Edmonton’s backup but was supplanted by Ingram after struggling to the tune of a .871 SV% and 3.68 GAA in 16 appearances (5-6-2 record). Fresh off his 34th birthday, he’s started playoff games in each of the last two years for the Oilers – including Game 5 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final – so there’s zero hesitancy about tossing him into the fray if Ingram and Jarry fall flat. Since clearing waivers and being assigned to Bakersfield at the beginning of February, Pickard has a .886 SV% and 3.26 GAA in eight games with one shutout and a 4-3-1 record.
- The Mammoth announced that they’ve recalled winger Danil But and goaltender Matt Villalta from AHL Tucson. With Tucson out of the playoffs, recalling their AHL starter in Villalta isn’t an issue to serve as their EBUG. He has just two NHL starts to his name but is a known AHL commodity, posting a .895 SV% in 33 outings for the Roadrunners this season. The more pressing move, of course, is the re-infusion of But into the mix. Utah has given its 2023 12th overall pick several looks on the roster this season in top-nine duties, with the 6’5″ Russian managing three goals and four assists in 29 games. It doesn’t appear he’ll be in their Game 1 lineup to start, even with Barrett Hayton and Jack McBain still unavailable, but he’ll almost surely be the next man up in case of any other lineup changes.
- The Islanders added Russian forward Daniil Prokhorov to their AHL roster, from KHL side Dynamo Moscow. The club drafted Prokhorov in the second round, No. 42 overall, at the 2025 NHL entry draft, their fourth selection overall. The 18-year-old forward was recently ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the Islanders’ system by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. Wheeler called Prokhorov, who stands 6’5″, a ” big, strong, driven, hardworking player.” AHL Bridgeport will be the fourth team Prokhorov has played for, in the fourth league. He scored one goal in 23 KHL games for Dynamo Moscow, 18 points in 25 games for Dynamo St. Petersburg in Russia’s second-tier VHL, and had six points in eight games at the MHL level, which is Russia’s top junior league. Prokhorov will soon make his debut on this side of the Atlantic for a Bridgeport team that has already clinched its playoff spot, and is playing out its final season in Connecticut before an offseason relocation to Ontario.
- The Wild recalled netminder Cal Petersen from their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild today. Petersen, 31, is the No. 3 netminder on the Wild depth chart and will likely occupy a spare goalie role for the team during its first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars. Recalling Petersen today allows him to join the team in advance of the start of their series against Dallas. The AHL Wild have already been eliminated from playoff contention, so today’s move turns over their net to Samuel Hlavaj and Riley Mercer, while allowing the team’s No. 3 goalie to join the NHL team and provide them with additional insurance in case one of Minnesota’s two regular goalies (Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson) become unavailable.
- The Kraken reassigned forward Jani Nyman and netminders Niklas Kokko and Victor Ostman to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. With the Kraken’s season concluded, the move allows three potentially significant contributors to re-join Coachella Valley in advance of what the club hopes will be another extended playoff run. Nyman, 21, scored 21 goals and 33 points in 38 games at the AHL level this season, and was the Firebird’s leading goal scorer in 2024-25. Kokko, 22, went 18-10-2 in 33 games for Coachella Valley this season and posted a .903 save percentage. Ostman, 25, signed out of the University of Maine for 2024-25 and spent last season as a tandem goalie in the ECHL. He has had a strong AHL campaign in his second year of pro hockey, going 17-14-3 with a .907 save percentage in 35 games with Coachella Valley.
- The Canucks announced that forward Ty Mueller and defenseman Kirill Kudryavtsev have been reassigned to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Both Mueller and Kudryavtsev had been on the Canucks’ NHL roster in the final days of the club’s NHL campaign. They have each been key AHL contributors this season. Mueller, 23, scored 35 points in 58 games this year for the AHL Canucks, while Kudryavtsev, 22, scored 18 points in 42 games playing a top-four role including time on both sides of special teams.
- The Ducks reassigned defenseman Tristan Luneau to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, as the team prepares for their first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers. The 22-year-old got into his first NHL game yesterday. A 2022 second-round pick, Luneau has been one of the AHL’s most productive offensive defensemen since joining the league. He led San Diego in scoring last season with 52 points in 59 games, and leads the team in scoring by a defenseman this year with 41 points in 69 contests.
- In a similar move to the Wild’s recall of Petersen, the Senators recalled netminder Leevi Merilainen from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators today. Belleville, like Iowa, has already been eliminated from playoff contention, so Ottawa is seemingly content to turn its AHL net over to other names for the final games of the season while getting the team’s No. 3 goalie onto their NHL roster a few days early. Merilainen played a solid 18 games for Belleville this season, posting a .909 save percentage, but struggled in 20 games at the NHL level. His .860 save percentage in 20 games with the Senators this season is the lowest save percentage by any goalie with at least 15 games played.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Sharks Recall Luca Cagnoni
The San Jose Sharks announced today that they have recalled Luca Cagnoni from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.
Cagnoni hasn’t played in the NHL this season, but got into six NHL games last year. In the meantime, he’s been one of the AHL’s most productive offensive defensemen, scoring 16 goals and 52 points as a rookie in 2024-25, and 43 points in 67 games in 2025-26.
The 5’9″ 180-pound blueliner is a former WHL star who is generally considered to be one of the better prospects in the Sharks’ system, which is one of the league’s very best. As with most defensemen his size, he has had to answer questions related to whether he’ll be able to handle the physical rigor and intensity of the NHL, but so far in his two-year professional career, he’s answered those questions in an emphatically positive direction.
The Sharks have not yet been eliminated from the playoffs, but their hopes of reaching the postseason are very slim. In the event they are eliminated from the playoffs before the end of the regular season, this recall will allow the team to get a look at Cagnoni’s progress.
His success at the AHL level suggests he could be nearing the point of NHL-readiness, and the Sharks are likely to want the chance to assess how close they believe Cagnoni is to making a real push for a full-time NHL roster spot.
The environment of the Sharks defense is favorable to Cagnoni, as he could have a significant opportunity ahead of him. San Jose’s defense is almost entirely unsettled for next season, with only Sam Dickinson and Dmitry Orlov under contract for 2026-27.
Mario Ferraro, Vincent Desharnais, Nick Leddy, and John Klingberg are set to hit unrestricted free agency, while Shakir Mukhamadullin will be an RFA. Klingberg has quarterbacked San Jose’s No. 1 power play unit this season, and if the Sharks let him walk, a significant amount of time on the man advantage will open up – time Cagnoni could very well seize if he makes the team.
Sharks Reassign Luca Cagnoni
Oct. 22: The Sharks announced Wednesday they’ve reassigned Cagnoni back to AHL San Jose. He did not play in the lone game he was rostered for, a 4-3 loss to the Islanders last night. His demotion indicates John Klingberg should be back in the lineup tomorrow against the Rangers after missing three games with a lower-body injury. While he didn’t play yesterday, he was a full participant in morning skate, Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest relays.
Oct. 19: The San Jose Sharks have recalled Luca Cagnoni, one of their top defensive prospects, from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. In a corresponding move, the team placed defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin on injured reserve. Mukhamadullin is dealing with an upper-body injury and is now set to miss the team’s upcoming four-game road trip.
Although the Sharks have one of the NHL’s more crowded bluelines at this point (this recall gives them eight healthy defensemen, per Puckpedia’s tracking) this move is nonetheless an opportunity for Cagnoni. The 20-year-old 2023 fourth-round pick had an exceptional debut campaign in pro hockey last year, amassing 52 points in 64 AHL games en route to AHL All-Rookie Team honors.
An undersized left-shot defenseman, Cagnoni’s calling card has always been his ability to generate offense from the blueline. While it’s still likely too early in the season to assess overall trends for teams, the Sharks currently rank 28th in goals scored per game and have scored just four goals in their last three games.
Should Cagnoni get into any NHL games due to this recall, the move could potentially help spark the Sharks’ offense due to the creativity Cagnoni offers from the blueline. Cagnoni has six NHL games on his résumé from last season, wherein he registered two points.
While Cagnoni appears unlikely to displace Dmitry Orlov or Mario Ferraro as one of the Sharks’ top-two left-side blueliners (at least at this point in his career), it’s possible the Sharks could give Sam Dickinson (who is still just 19 years old) a breather and dress Cagnoni for a game instead.
Such a move would not be without precedent: the Pittsburgh Penguins scratched rookie blueliner Harrison Brunicke as part of a larger development plan to keep their young blueliner “fresh” and capable of sustaining a high level of play.
Since Dickinson is occupying a second-unit power play role with John Klingberg injured, it’s also a possibility that Cagnoni gets a look there should they elect to give Dickinson a game off.
Regardless of whether Cagnoni ultimately gets into NHL games as a result of this recall or not, it’s nonetheless an encouraging sign for the young blueliner’s long-term future that he’s already being called upon as an option for the NHL roster.
Minor Transactions: 4/16/25
The NHL season has come to an end, or soon will, for teams around the league that missed out on this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. That fact has driven many to begin the process of assigning their waiver-exempt players to more successful teams in the minor leagues. We’ll cover the bulk of those assignments here:
- In a rare move with playoff implications, the St. Louis Blues have assigned top forward prospect Dalibor Dvorsky to the minor leagues. Dvorsky hasn’t played since April 9th, when he made his second career appearance in the NHL. He has no points and an average of nine minutes in ice time over his first two games. This move will return him to a star role in the minor leagues, where his 20 goals and 44 points in 59 games rank third and fourth on the Springfield Thunderbirds respectively. Springfield have squeaked into the Calder Cup playoffs with 74 points in 70 games this season. Dvorsky will be a major boost to their postseason roster, unless the Blues opt to include him in their inevitable wave of Black Ace recalls.
- The Chicago Blackhawks have assigned top defense prospects Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov to the AHL after the end of their season, per a release from the Rockford IceHogs. Both players have manned dominant roles in the IceHogs lineup this season – Korchinski looking to find his comfort after a hard NHL role last season, and Levshunov looking to vindicate his second-overall selection in last year’s draft. They lead the Rockford blue-line in scoring, with Korchinski netting 27 points in 54 games and Levshunov scoring 22 points in 50 games. Levshunov proved the more productive in all three zones at the NHL level. He recorded six assists, eight penalty minutes, and a minus-13 in his first 18 games in the NHL. Korchisnki only scored two points in 16 NHL games this season, though his minus-five was the fourth-best on the Chicago defense. The duo will offer a well-rounded impact to Rockford’s playoff push – Korchinski bringing strong offense and Levshunov showing strong two-way play.
- The San Jose Sharks have assigned defenseman Luca Cagnoni back to the minor leagues after recalling him to play in their latest game, per Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. Cagnoni recorded an assist and two penalties in roughly 18 minutes of Monday’s overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The score was his second assist in six NHL games this season, on top of eight penalty minutes and a minus-four. Cagnoni was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team on Wednesday – high praise after he led all rookie defensemen in scoring with 14 goals and 49 points in 62 games this season. Cagnoni had a breakout season in his first professional campaign, and already seems to be outperforming his fourth-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. He will look to keep a good year going as the San Jose Barracuda prepare for a playoff push.
- Winger Kailer Yamamoto represents the first veteran on this list. He’s headed back to the Tucson Roadrunners alongside goaltender Matt Villalta, after the end of the Utah Hockey Club’s inaugural season, per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. Yamamoto has been a force in the minor leagues. He leads Tucson in scoring this season with 53 points in 52 games. It’s been a valiant performance that earned the depth forward 12 appearances in the NHL. He scored three points in those games. Villalta has stood tall as Tucson’s starting goaltender as well, with a team-leading .906 save percentage in 41 games this season. He played in just the third NHL game of his career this season and recorded a win, with 28 saves on 31 shots. Yamamoto will return to Tucson’s top-line, while Villalta will likely return to the starter’s role ahead of Jaxson Stauber.
- The Nashville Predators have assigned Ryan Ufko back to the minor leagues, per Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean. Ufko made his NHL debut on Monday. He didn’t manage any notable stat changes in 15:37 of ice time. Ufko has emerged as a top-four defender for the Milwaukee Admirals this season. His eight goals and 29 points in 71 games lead the Admirals blue-line in scoring. Ufko is still rounding out the physical and two-way aspects of his game, but his emergence as an AHL rookie has proven promising on a Preadtors team well capable of honing defenders into NHL talents.
Sharks Recall Daniil Gushchin, Luca Cagnoni, Jimmy Schuldt
Call it even more of a youth movement for the Sharks. They’ve recalled winger Daniil Gushchin and defensemen Luca Cagnoni and Jimmy Schuldt from AHL San Jose ahead of their final two games of the season, per a team announcement.
The promotions for the youngsters and the veteran Schuldt come amid a late-season rash of injuries. They’ll likely be dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen tonight against the Canucks after recent call-up Thomas Bordeleau sustained an undisclosed injury last night against the Flames, per Max Miller of The Hockey News. The 23-year-old, who was making his season debut, joins a long list of injured Sharks that also includes Klim Kostin, Cameron Lund, and Zack Ostapchuk on offense and Vincent Desharnais, Mario Ferraro, Shakir Mukhamadullin, and Jack Thompson on the back end.
San Jose’s wave of late-season injuries poses a challenge, but the team will find a silver lining in their chance to ice more up-and-coming talents. Gushchin should immediately fill in Bordeleau’s role in the team’s bottom-six, giving the Russian standout a chance to find his first NHL goal of the season. Gushchin made the Sharks roster out of training camp but was quickly assigned to the minors after netting just one assist in 10 games. He quickly returned to the world of top-AHL scoring with the Barracuda, ultimately recording 27 goals and 48 points in 54 games on the season.
Those numbers rank Gushchin second on the team’s offense in goals and points. It’s an ever-so-slight downtick from the 54 points he scored last season, though that total also ranked Gushchin second on the Barracuda’s offense. He’s managed at least 40 points in each of the last three AHL seasons – the first of his pro career – but has struggled to translate that scoring to the top flight. Through 16 career appearances in the NHL, Gushchin has just two goals and five points. This recall will mark a chance for Gushchin to buck his low-scoring trend before the Sharks’ season comes to an end.
Meanwhile, Cagnoni and Schuldt will once again battle for minutes on the Sharks’ blue-line. The pair have both seen routine call-ups this season and offer very different skillsets. Cagnoni led all AHL rookie defensemen in scoring this sesaon with a proud 49 points in 62 games. He’s a dominant puck-mover and playmaker, but only managed one assist in the first five games of his NHL career earlier this season. Schuldt – the captain of the Barracuda – is much more a stay-at-home, physical defenseman. That point is made evident by his 21 points in 62 AHL games, and no points in six NHL games, this season. Schuldt has become a top defensive-defenseman at the minor-league level, and held onto strong lineup roles through stints with five different AHL clubs over the last six seasons. Both Cagnoni and Schuldt are expected to step into the lineup for San Jose’s final games, giving both players a chance to chase the first goal of their NHL careers.
Sharks Reassign Luca Cagnoni, Patrick Giles
The Sharks have reassigned defenseman Luca Cagnoni and forward Patrick Giles to AHL San Jose, reports Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The moves indicate fellow rearguard Vincent Desharnais is likely to return tomorrow from the upper-body injury that’s kept him out of the last two games, while sending down Giles gets San Jose back down to 14 healthy forwards on the active roster after signing Cameron Lund out of college earlier this month.
Cagnoni returns to the Barracuda after receiving his first career recall on March 18. The 5’9″ lefty is receiving NHL ice time ahead of schedule after being selected in the fourth round less than two years ago. Still, he’s forced his way into consideration amid a standout offensive rookie campaign in the minors. The 20-year-old had 13-31–47 through 56 AHL games before getting called up, ranking second on the team in scoring.
His NHL debut went about as well as expected. He suited up in a couple of blowout losses but managed an even rating in last night’s 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the Kings. He posted one assist through five games but was extremely involved offensively, posting seven shots on goal and 23 shot attempts. Averaging 17:37 per game, his 4.60 shot attempts per game rank fourth on San Jose this season behind Macklin Celebrini, the since-traded Jake Walman, and Tyler Toffoli. It was difficult to gauge his defensive impact in sheltered minutes, but early returns on his play-driving ability are good.
Giles, acquired from the Panthers for Vítek Vaněček earlier this month, gets demoted for the first time since the move. The 25-year-old Maryland native was a healthy scratch for the first time in his Sharks tenure last night, so it’s not unforeseen. He has a goal in eight games in a San Jose uniform, his first NHL point after going scoreless in nine games with Florida to begin the year. The 6’5″ pivot continues to struggle in the faceoff dot, winning 38% of his draws since the trade, so his utility down the middle remains limited and doesn’t make him the most appealing bottom-six option for the Sharks at present. He had just 5-2–7 in 39 games with AHL Charlotte before the trade, so the Barracuda shouldn’t be expecting a meaningful offensive impact from Giles down the stretch.
Sharks Recall Luca Cagnoni For NHL Debut
The Sharks announced they’ve recalled defenseman Luca Cagnoni from AHL San Jose. The 20-year-old will make his NHL debut when San Jose faces the Hurricanes on Thursday since the team reassigned Jimmy Schuldt to the minors in a corresponding move.
It’s a quick ascension for Cagnoni, whom the Sharks nabbed in the fourth round of the 2023 draft. The pick was almost universally lauded as a steal – while some were concerned about how projectable the lefty’s 5’9″, 181-lb frame was to the professional level, his offensive dominance with the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks had some public scouting outfits tout him as high as an early second-round talent.
Cagnoni returned to the Winterhawks for his post-draft season but signed his entry-level deal last May, paving the way for the December-born defender to jump to the pros with the Barracuda for 2024-25. The British Columbia native has dominated out of the gate, posting 13-34–47 in 56 games to rank second in scoring among AHL defensemen behind veteran Derrick Pouliot. While by no means defensively dominant – his minus-six rating is tied for fifth-worst on the club – he’s been a major part of the Barracuda’s resurgence as San Jose’s farm team looks to finish above .500 for the first time since 2018-19.
He’ll presumably take Schuldt’s third-pairing spot in his debut later this week, meaning hulking 6’7″ righty Vincent Desharnais should serve as quite the insular partner for Cagnoni’s first taste of top-level hockey. Schuldt, 29, has no points and a minus-one rating in four games for the Sharks this year in his first taste of NHL hockey since debuting with the Golden Knights in 2019.
In the interim, the Sharks hope Cagnoni can replace some of the puck-moving ability they lost when second-year defenseman Henry Thrun exited the lineup earlier this month with an upper-body injury. Cagnoni, whose recall amounts to the third of San Jose’s four allotted post-deadline recalls, is under contract through the 2026-27 season at a cap hit of $895K.
Cagnoni checked in as the No. 5 prospect in the Sharks’ league-leading system in this year’s midseason rankings by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Sharks Sign Luca Cagnoni To Entry-Level Deal
The Sharks have signed Luca Cagnoni, one of the organization’s top defense prospects, to an entry-level contract. It’s a three-year deal for the 19-year-old, per the team. The contract carries an $895K cap hit with the following breakdown, PuckPedia reports:
2024-25: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K games played bonus
2025-26: $800K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $55K games played bonus
2026-27: $825K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $30K games played bonus
Since Cagnoni will turn 20 before January 1, 2025, he is not eligible for an entry-level slide. His contract will begin next season regardless of how many NHL games he plays.
Viewed as a potential late first-round selection in the 2023 draft, Cagnoni fell all the way to the fourth round, where the Sharks snapped him up with the 123rd overall pick, acquired from the Kraken for depth defenseman Jaycob Megna. Seattle had previously acquired the pick from the Avalanche in exchange for Kurtis MacDermid.
Now, it looks like a difficult trade to stomach for both teams that passed up the pick. Cagnoni had an electric post-draft season for the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks, leading the league in assists (72) and points (90) by a defenseman in 65 games. But despite posting the best offensive season by a WHL blue liner in 30 years, he wasn’t named one of the four finalists for their Defenseman of the Year award, passed over in favor of Avalanche prospect Graham Sward as the U.S. Division nominee.
Size remains Cagnoni’s main limitation. NHL teams were universally cautious about his 5’9″ frame, and he doesn’t have the elite defensive awareness to compensate for his lack of ability to box out larger opponents.
Still, he’s an incredible offensive threat who also put up nearly a point per game with Portland in his draft year. 2020 first-round pick Shakir Mukhamadullin, acquired from the Devils in last year’s Timo Meier trade, takes the cake as the organization’s top overall defense prospect after a strong season in the AHL, but Cagnoni has the highest ceiling in terms of point production of any defender in the San Jose system.
His December birthday also means he’s eligible for assignment to AHL San Jose next season, a likely scenario given he has nothing left to prove in juniors. He had 13 points in 13 playoff games as the Winterhawks advanced to the WHL championship but lost to the Moose Jaw Warriors in a sweep.
Cagnoni’s deal will expire after the 2026-27 season, at which point he’ll be a restricted free agent.