{"id":557934,"date":"2026-04-22T12:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/557934\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T12:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:33:15","slug":"san-jose-sharks-mike-grier-may-look-to-barracuda-to-fill-out-defense-corps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/557934\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose Sharks’ Mike Grier may look to Barracuda to fill out defense corps"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN JOSE \u2013 Sharks prospect defensemen Nolan Allan and Luca Cagnoni are keeping their focus on the Calder Cup playoffs right now as the San Jose Barracuda open the AHL postseason on Wednesday with a best-of-three series<\/a> against the Henderson Silver Knights.<\/p>\n

Still, it might be tempting for them to look at the organizational depth chart<\/a> and see that the Sharks have a glaring need for blueliners to help fill out next season\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n

Beyond likely having Dmitry Orlov, Sam Dickinson, and Shakir Mukhamadullin on the 2026-27 team, little is known about what the Sharks\u2019 defense corps will look like once training camp begins in September.<\/p>\n

The Sharks have four pending unrestricted free agents on the blue line, including Mario Ferraro, the team\u2019s longest-tenured player,<\/a> who will likely be allowed to test free agency in July.<\/p>\n

As he tries to make upgrades to a group that finished 30th out of 32 teams<\/a> in goals against per game (3.54) this past season, general manager Mike Grier will look at the trade market or free agency to try to address the defense corps as the Sharks try to put themselves in a position to make the playoffs next season.<\/p>\n

But Grier said he\u2019ll also look at what he has with the Barracuda, with Cagnoni and Allan both having NHL experience, and Eric Pohlkamp, college hockey\u2019s top-scoring defenseman<\/a> this past season, joining the organization<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Cagnoni) came up and did a good job when he was up,\u201d Grier said Saturday of Cagnoni\u2019s three-game stint with the Sharks at the end of the regular season. \u201cShowed that maybe he should be an option for one of the power plays if he earns it. We\u2019ve got Eric Pohlkamp coming in. We\u2019ll see what he looks like. Nolan Allan has been good for us (with the Barracuda), too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t leave any stone unturned trying to improve things back there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allan, a first-round pick by Chicago in 2021, played 43 games with the Blackhawks last season before he and goalie Laurent Brossoit were acquired by the Sharks<\/a> in January.<\/p>\n

Along with puck movers, Grier is looking for blueliners who can end plays in the defensive zone, and perhaps 6-foot-2, 195-pound Allan can help fill that role.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefensive-minded guy. Brings a little bit of sandpaper, plays hard, not afraid of the physical side of the game,\u201d Barracuda coach John McCarthy said of Allan. \u201cAs of late, when we\u2019ve had some injuries, he\u2019s filled in on the second power play unit. So he\u2019s getting some opportunities, playing in a lot of different situations, and he\u2019s responded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allan, who turns 23 next week and is a pending restricted free agent, is getting more opportunities now than he did in Rockford with the Ice Hogs\u2019 loaded blue line and has 14 points in 35 games in San Jose.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s always kind of in the back of your head. That\u2019s your end goal as a hockey player, you want to try to get to the NHL,\u201d Allan said. \u201cBut right now you just obviously focus on the day to day, focus kind of on our playoff run, and then kind of worry about the other things later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cagnoni, 21, is once again the Barracuda\u2019s top-scoring defenseman this season with 43 points in 67 games.<\/p>\n

At 5-9 and 180 pounds, Cagnoni will obviously face challenges as a defenseman at the NHL level, but he didn\u2019t necessarily look out of place last week as he worked on the Sharks\u2019 top power play unit and averaged 18 minutes of ice time per game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I played pretty well,\u201d Cagnoni said. \u201cI was trying to do what I was doing down here, playing with that confidence and that comfort level. Then just still playing hard defensively, and everything that I was taught and learned down here. Try to show that I can do at the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just as dynamic offensively, runs the first power play unit and generates a lot of good looks for us there, and he\u2019s shown improvement on the defensive side,\u201d McCarthy said of Cagnoni. \u201cHe\u2019s obviously not the biggest guy, so he has to take better angles, have a better stick, all of these little details he\u2019s improving on. That\u2019s the reason he got rewarded with a call-up at the end of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having Cagnoni, Allan, or Pohlkamp next season would certainly be a more economical option for Grier, who may need to devote a good chunk of salary cap space to bring in the kind of top four defensemen the Sharks desperately need. Pohlkamp will just be starting his entry-level contract, Cagnoni is going into the final year of his ELC, and Allan would likely be brought back at the NHL minimum or slightly more.<\/p>\n

For now, Cagnoni and Allan are focused on Game 1 of their series with Henderson on Wednesday, with Game 2 on Friday and, if necessary, Game 3 on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Allan is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, but skated on Monday and said he\u2019s optimistic he can play for the injury-ravaged Barracuda on Wednesday. Forward Oliver Walhstrom and defenseman Mattias Havelid are also day-to-day with their respective injuries, and forwards Cam Lund and Ethan Cardwell were both out for the season.<\/p>\n

Cagnoni will be heavily relied on to produce offense from the back end, something he hopes to do in the NHL as well. But, first things first.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, you think about (the NHL), but I think (the AHL playoffs) is probably going to be the biggest test until then,\u201d Cagnoni said. \u201cThis is as hard as (AHL) hockey\u2019s going to get, the way people play down here and how physical it is. Forwards are going to be getting to the net.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tight game, and I\u2019ve got to show them what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

CALDER CUP PLAYOFFS, FIRST ROUND<\/p>\n

GAME 1: Barracuda at Henderson, Wednesday, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

GAME 2: Barracuda at Henderson, Friday, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

*GAME 3: Barracuda at Henderson, Sunday, 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

*If necessary. All playoff games broadcast live on the\u00a0Sharks Audio Network\u00a0and\u00a0AHLTV on FloHockey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE \u2013 Sharks prospect defensemen Nolan Allan and Luca Cagnoni are keeping their focus on the Calder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5127],"tags":[2617,27663,5,4,27664,519,168,5306,5305,2618,1780,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-557934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose-sharks","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-central-coast","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-northern-california","13":"tag-san-jose","14":"tag-san-jose-sharks","15":"tag-sanjose","16":"tag-sanjosesharks","17":"tag-santa-clara-county","18":"tag-sharks","19":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116448382403148424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}