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Patrick Giles

Sharks Reassign Luca Cagnoni, Patrick Giles

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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 Notes: Thrun, Giles, Gregor, Goaltenders

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The Sharks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated defenseman Henry Thrun off injured reserve.  He had missed the last week and a half after suffering an upper-body injury late last month against Montreal.  The 23-year-old is in his first full NHL season and has played in 51 games with San Jose thus far, picking up a goal and nine assists while averaging just under 17 minutes a night, a full three minutes a night below his ATOI from last season after he was brought up from the Barracuda.  However, with Jake Walman now in Edmonton, Thrun should be in line for a bigger role with San Jose down the stretch.

More from San Jose:

  • The Sharks will get a look at one of their newcomers quickly as in the same announcement as Thrun’s, the team noted that forward Patrick Giles was recalled from the Barracuda. Acquired earlier this week from Florida in the Vitek Vanecek deal, the 25-year-old played in nine games with the Panthers this season but has spent most of the year in the minors.  In 39 contests on the farm with AHL Charlotte, he has five goals and two assists.
  • It would appear that part of the reason for Giles’ recall is the uncertainty with Noah Gregor’s availability, suggests Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link). Gregor has to go through the immigration process before he’s cleared to play, a process that can sometimes take several days to get through.  Gregor, acquired from Ottawa in a literal last-minute deal before the deadline, will be entering his second stint with the Sharks and his availability for Saturday’s game against the Islanders is in question.
  • While San Jose did plenty of selling, they did try to make one small buyer move at the deadline. Speaking with reporters including Max Miller of The Hockey News (Twitter link), GM Mike Grier indicated that he tried to acquire a second goaltender to allow Georgi Romanov to remain in the minors but that the price to do so was too high.  Instead, Romanov, who has just two career NHL appearances, will serve as Alexandar Georgiev’s backup with top prospect Yaroslav Askarov out due to a lower-body injury.

Panthers Acquire Vítek Vaněček From Sharks

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The Panthers have acquired goaltender Vítek Vaněček from the Sharks in exchange for depth forward Patrick Giles, both teams announced. There is no salary retention in the deal, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic confirms. Vaněček was held out of his scheduled start against the Sabres last night for injury prevention in anticipation of a move.

Florida has been searching for a backup netminder to reigning Vezina nominee Sergei Bobrovsky for the past few days after they dealt Spencer Knight to the Blackhawks in last weekend’s Seth Jones trade. They recalled veteran third-stringer Chris Driedger from AHL Charlotte to serve as Bobrovsky’s No. 2 in the interim, but the 30-year-old has just a .878 SV% in 20 minor-league appearances this season and wasn’t viewed as a reliable insurance option for Bobrovsky in case he sustained an injury down the stretch or in the postseason.

Vaněček grades out as a slight upgrade, albeit an expensive one at a $3.4MM cap hit. The 29-year-old is in the final year of his contract, though, so there’s no long-term burden on Florida’s books. They’ll still have $5.3MM in cap space to make other moves before Friday’s deadline after placing star winger Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve.

The Czech netminder’s short stint with the Sharks was underwhelming, even behind the league’s most porous defense group. Acquired from the Devils at last year’s deadline, he didn’t suit up for San Jose until the 2024-25 campaign due to injuries. More injuries, namely a cheekbone fracture, limited him to 17 starts and one relief appearance while serving as the primary backup to Mackenzie Blackwood and Alexandar Georgiev, who were traded for each other in December, when healthy. He mustered a 3-10-3 record with a career-worst .882 SV% and 3.88 GAA.

Advanced numbers aren’t kind to Vaněček’s performance this season, either. His -0.56 goals saved above expected per 60 is worse than Georgiev’s -0.34, and he’s allowed a cumulative nine goals above expected on the season, per MoneyPuck. Among 55 goalies with at least 18 games played, Vaněček ranks 48th in total GSAx and 53rd in GSAx/60. His raw GAA is also the worst among the group. He’s also allowing 0.072 rebounds per save, second-worst in the league behind the Devils’ Jake Allen.

The Panthers are banking on a slight return to form behind a defense that allows five fewer shots per game than San Jose’s. Vaněček has been a serviceable tandem option in the past, posting a 33-11-4 record in a career-high 52 appearances with New Jersey in 2022-23 with a .911 SV% and 2.45 GAA. He’ll only be relied upon for a few starts down the stretch to give Bobrovsky some rest as the Cats compete for a third Atlantic Division title in four years. However, if Bobrovsky sustains an injury, he will be Florida’s primary insurance option in the playoffs. He has a highly subpar .834 SV% in 10 playoff appearances with the Capitals and Devils.

As for the Sharks’ new backup, it won’t be top prospect Yaroslav Askarov – at least for now. He’s still dealing with a lower-body injury after being returned to AHL San Jose a few weeks ago and isn’t currently available for a recall. It’ll be 25-year-old Georgi Romanov coming up to serve as the No. 2 in the Bay Area in the interim, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.

In return for Vaněček, San Jose lands a low-ceiling depth center in Giles. The 25-year-old Maryland native made his NHL debut with the Cats at the beginning of the campaign, going without a point and posting a minus-one rating in nine games. He averaged 7:33 per game, won just 29.8% of his faceoffs, and recorded 16 hits while getting outshot 34-19 at 5v5 in sheltered usage, per Natural Stat Trick. Florida returned Giles to AHL Charlotte after Tomáš Nosek returned from an injury. The 6’5″, 216-lb forward has just 5-2–7 with a plus-three rating in 39 games since. He’ll now report to the Sharks’ AHL affiliate. He’s in the first year of a two-year, two-way deal and will be an RFA with arbitration rights in the summer of 2026.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the Panthers and Sharks were working on a Vaněček deal. Tim Reynolds of the AP was first to report Florida was sending Giles to San Jose to complete the deal.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Panthers Reassign Patrick Giles

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The Panthers announced that they’ve loaned center Patrick Giles to AHL Charlotte. As expected, this opens the cap space necessary to activate Tomáš Nosek from long-term injured reserve before this afternoon’s Global Series game against the Stars.

Giles, 24, is waiver-exempt and never stood much chance of sticking around on the NHL roster after Nosek was ready to return. The undrafted free agent signing out of Boston College has played nine games since being called up in the first few days of the season, but the numbers show he’s not ready for a full-time job. The 6’4″, 205-lb forward went 14 for 47 on draws (29.8 FOW%), posted a -1 rating, and managed only four shots on goal while failing to record a point. He averaged 7:23 per game, and the Panthers were caved in for those limited minutes he was on the ice, controlling only 37.6% of shot attempts at even strength. That’s despite Giles receiving 63.3% of his zone starts in the offensive end.

This is Giles’ first season signed to an NHL contract. He’d spent the last two on AHL deals with Charlotte, with 37 points (16 G, 21 A) in 148 games with a +2 rating. In June, he inked a two-year entry-level contract with Florida, making him a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in 2026.

Nosek coming off LTIR means he’ll be making his Panthers debut in a mid-season neutral site game in Finland, which is certainly unusual. The 32-year-old bottom-six fixture inked a one-year, one-way league minimum pact with the Cats over the summer. He’ll center Florida’s fourth line between A.J. Greer and Mackie Samoskevich, adding 434 games of NHL experience to the unit. He’ll be a significant upgrade over Giles in the role without considering point totals, boasting a career 54.4 FOW% and an impressive 51.4 xGF% at even strength, considering his usual defensive deployment. Nosek is coming off a tough year with the Devils, though, limited by injuries to six points and a -11 rating in 36 games.

Panthers Recall Patrick Giles

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With the Panthers needing some extra depth up front in the wake of the Aleksander Barkov injury that will keep him out for a few weeks at least, the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Patrick Giles from AHL Charlotte.

The 24-year-old signed with Florida as an undrafted free agent back in 2022 following a four-year run at Boston College.  He has yet to play at the NHL level but took a step forward offensively last season, notching 13 goals and 10 assists in 66 games with the Checkers.

Giles was one of the final cuts at training camp for the Panthers after they gave him a long look in the preseason.  He led the team in scoring with two goals and four assists while suiting up in seven of eight games as they gave him a chance to earn a spot on the fourth line.  He didn’t get it then but he should get that opportunity now.

While Florida had two open roster spots and thus technically didn’t need a corresponding move to open one up, there still needed to be a corresponding transaction for cap reasons.  Prior to the recall, the team only had $556K in cap space, not enough to afford Giles at his $775K price tag.  With that in mind, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that center Tomas Nosek has been transferred to LTIR, meaning he’ll be out for at least the first 10 games and 24 days of the season (the placement can be retroactive to the start of the year) while freeing up enough space to add Giles to the roster.

East Notes: Michkov, Marchand, Sillinger, Giles

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If preseason is any indication, there won’t be many growing pains for Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov as he adjusts to playing in North America. The 2023 seventh overall pick put his stamp all over the Flyers’ first home win of the exhibition schedule last night, recording a secondary assist and scoring an empty-net insurance marker in a 2-0 victory over the Islanders, quite literally making all the game’s offense go through him one way or another.

“He’s been working really hard,” assistant coach Rocky Thompson said Thursday (via The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz). “You can tell within our practices and with our skating, he’s made a diligent effort. So, that’s good. He’s backchecking hard, he’s doing all those things. But, you can see his ability to make plays. He generated opportunities for his teammates, he scores himself tonight with a goal and an assist. Played good.”

Many worries about how Michkov might adjust to the NHL centered around a potentially rocky relationship with bench boss John Tortorellaregarding his all-around play. But he’s been complimentary of Michkov’s effort and willingness to go into one-on-one puck battles, calling him “certainly willing to be in the areas to go get the puck.”

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • If Bruins captain Brad Marchand has his way, Morgan Geekie will open the season on his right flank in second-line duties. “I love playing with Geeks,” Marchand told Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic. “He’s so great in some of the different areas, the way he can hold onto pucks and makes plays. Shoots it. Great in the corners. I think he really complements our line as well. We haven’t had a ton of reps together, so we’ll continue to work on it. But I’ve always really liked his game.” His assessment about not having a ton of reps together is correct – Geekie logged just 25 minutes of ice time last season with Marchand and Charlie Coyle, per MoneyPuck. The 26-year-old is on the upswing after a career-high 17 goals and 39 points for Boston last year but faces competition from 2021 first-round pick Fabian Lysell, whose preseason showing Marchand called “encouraging” but added there’s room for improvement.
  • The Blue Jackets might have a second Sillinger on their opening-night roster. 27-year-old Owen Sillinger, Cole Sillinger’s older brother, is among the leading candidates to snag a spot with Justin Danforth potentially not ready to start the season while recovering from wrist surgery, writes The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline. Sillinger spent the last two seasons with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters on minor-league deals and finished third on the team in scoring last season with 40 points (11 G, 29 A) in 69 games. That showing earned him a promotion to a two-way deal with Columbus this summer. He could briefly factor into a bottom-six role before likely landing on waivers when Danforth is ready to return.
  • Panthers prospect Patrick Giles finds himself in a similarly unexpected situation. The 24-year-old has been getting reps on Florida’s fourth line over the past couple days with Tomáš Nosek set to miss a few weeks and has a shot to open the campaign in the NHL, David Dwork of The Hockey News relays. An undrafted free agent signing out of Boston College in 2022, Giles stands at 6’4″ and 203 lbs and posted a career-high 13 goals and 23 points in 63 games last season for AHL Charlotte.

Panthers Re-Sign Patrick Giles, Matt Kiersted

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The Panthers have re-upped minor-league forward Patrick Giles on a two-year, two-way deal, per a team announcement. It pays him $775K NHL/$100K AHL ($132.5K guaranteed) in 2024-25 with a minor pay bump to $775K NHL/$150K AHL ($180K guaranteed) in 2025-26, PuckPedia reports. He was slated to become an RFA with arbitration rights on July 1. They’ve also extended defenseman Matt Kiersted on a one-year, two-way pact, keeping their lips sealed on cap figures for that one.

Giles, 24, first found his way into the Panthers organization after wrapping up a four-year career at Boston College, inking an amateur tryout with AHL Charlotte to end the 2021-22 campaign. He earned an invite to Panthers training camp the following fall, earning an entry-level contract in the process.

The big-bodied 6’4″ forward can play both center and right-wing and has been a serviceable bottom-six piece in Charlotte the last two years, scoring 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points in 148 showings for the Checkers. The Maryland native may not have much of an NHL future ahead of him, but he’s a good energy presence to help insulate Florida’s more promising up-and-comers. Assuming he plays fewer than 80 NHL games over the life of his extension, he’ll hit UFA status early via a Group VI exception in 2026.

Like Giles, Kiersted was an undrafted free-agent signing out of college, but he didn’t need to wait until the fall to land his first NHL deal. Florida added him to the roster immediately after he wrapped up his senior season with the University of North Dakota in 2021. Now 26, he was expected to challenge for major-league time after being named to the NCHC’s First All-Star Team in his final season with the Fighting Hawks, but he hasn’t managed to stick around.

Kiersted has spent most of the past three seasons in Charlotte, where he has 56 points in 169 career games with a +23 rating. He’s developed into a top-four fixture there, but 2023-24 was his first season without NHL time since turning pro. Kiersted did play in 37 NHL games between the 2020-21 and 2022-23 campaigns, recording two goals, six assists and a -8 rating while averaging a paltry 11:59 per game. His one-year extension walks him to UFA status next summer.

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