Luca Caputi

Luca Caputi
Caputi with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2008
Born	(1988-10-01) October 1, 1988 (age 36) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shot	Left
Played for	VIK Västerås HK IK Oskarshamn
NHL draft	111th overall, 2007 Pittsburgh Penguins
Playing career	2008–2015

Gianluca Caputi (born October 1, 1988) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach with the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League.^[1] He is currently an amateur scout for the Vancouver Canucks.

Caputi was drafted by the Mississauga IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League in the 2nd round, 37th overall, during the 2004 OHL Priority Selection. Caputi played in his first career OHL game on October 8, 2004, as he was held to no points in a 6–4 win over the Barrie Colts. On November 14, Caputi scored his first career OHL goal against Daren Machesney of the Brampton Battalion in a 4–1 loss. Caputi finished his rookie season in 2004–05 playing in 48 games, scoring five goals and an assist and did not play any post-season games with the IceDogs.

Caputi saw little playing time during the 2005–06 season, and in 32 games was held to just three goals as the IceDogs failed to qualify for the post-season.

In 2006–07, Caputi broke out offensively with Mississauga, scoring 27 goals and 65 points in 68 games to finish sixth in team scoring. On September 24, 2006, Caputi earned his first career multi-point OHL game, as he had a goal and an assist in 6-2 win over the Toronto St. Michael's Majors. Less than a month later, on October 15, Caputi scored two goals in a game for the first time in his OHL career, while adding an assist for his first three-point game, in a 9–1 win over the Peterborough Petes. On December 10, Caputi scored a goal and added three assists, earning his first career four-point game, in a 11–5 IceDogs victory over the Oshawa Generals. On March 23, Caputi played in his first career OHL post-season game, as he scored a goal against Sebastian Dahm and added an assist in a 5–4 loss to the Sudbury Wolves. In five playoff games, Caputi had two goals and three points.

During the off-season in 2007, the IceDogs franchise relocated from Mississauga to

Caputi spent the majority of the 2008–09 in the AHL. On January 11, Caputi earned three assists in a 6–2 win over the Hershey Bears for his first career three-point game. In 66 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Caputi scored 18 goals and 45 points. During the post-season, Caputi scored three goals and eight points in 12 games. Caputi did see some action with Pittsburgh during the 2008–09. On February 3, 2009, Caputi played in his first career NHL game, as he scored 2:30 into the game against Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens in a 4–2 loss. Overall, in five games with Pittsburgh, Caputi scored one goal. Caputi also appeared in three games with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL, scoring two goals and three points.

Caputi once again spent the majority of the

Caputi joined the Toronto Maple Leafs following a trade on March 2, 2010. On March 4, he appeared in his first game as a member of the Maple Leafs, as he earned an assist in 3–2 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins. Five days later, on March 9, Caputi scored his first career goal with Toronto, scoring against Tim Thomas in a 4–3 win over the Bruins. On March 11, Caputi earned his first career multi-point game in the NHL, as he earned two assists in a 4–3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 19 games with the Maple Leafs, Caputi had a goal and six points.

Injuries plagued Caputi during the 2010–11 season, as he appeared in only seven games with the Maple Leafs, earning no points. In 13 games with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL during the 2010–11 season, Caputi scored a goal and five points. Caputi scored his first goal with the Marlies on October 16 against Robert Mayer of the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Caputi began the 2011–12 season with the Marlies. In 21 games, he scored two goals and three points. On January 3, 2012, the Maple Leafs traded Caputi to the Anaheim Ducks for Nicolas Deschamps.

The Anaheim Ducks assigned Caputi to their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. In his first game with the Crunch on January 3, Caputi faced his former team, the Toronto Marlies. He was held off the scoresheet in a 2–0 loss. On January 13, Caputi scored his first goal with the Crunch against Mike McKenna of the Binghamton Senators in a 5–2 victory. In 39 games with Syracuse in the 2011–12 season, Caputi scored 10 goals and 22 points.

Caputi signed with the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL for the 2012–13 season. In his first game with the Admirals, Caputi had no points in a 3–2 loss to the St. John's IceCaps on October 27. Caputi earned his first points with Norfolk on November 2, as he had two assists in a 4–3 loss to the Binghamton Senators. On November 12, Caputi scored his first goal with the Admirals, scoring against Jeff Frazee of the Albany Devils in a 5–4 shootout victory. In 35 games with Norfolk, Caputi scored three goals and 18 points. Caputi also saw some playing time in the ECHL with the Fort Wayne Komets during the 2012–13 season. In 15 games with Fort Wayne, Caputi scored six goals and 14 points.

Caputi signed with Västerås IK of HockeyAllsvenskan for the 2013–14 season. In 45 games, Caputi scored 14 goals and 35 points to finish second in team scoring.

Caputi joined IK Oskarshamn of HockeyAllsvenskan for the 2014–15 season. In 39 games with the club, Caputi scored 10 goals and 19 points. Following the season, Caputi announced his retirement from hockey.

Caputi joined the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League as an assistant coach, working under head coach Bill Stewart, for the 2015–16 season.^[2]

The rebuilding Storm struggled in the 2015-16 season, and Stewart resigned as head coach on December 7 after a 2–24–1 record in their first 27 games.^[3] After Storm general manager Mike Kelly coached the club for five games as an interim head coach, the team hired Jarrod Skalde^[4] as the permanent replacement. Caputi remained as an assistant coach under Skalde, as the Storm finished the season with a 13-49-6 record, earning 32 points, and finishing last in the league.

Caputi returned to the Storm in 2016–17, as the Storm saw some improvement, finishing the season with a 21–40–7 record, earning 49 points, which was a 17-point improvement over the previous season. The team finished in last place in the Western Conference. Following the season, the Storm replaced Skalde as head coach, hiring George Burnett as his replacement. Burnett kept Caputi on his coaching staff as an assistant coach.^[5]

Under Burnett, the Storm improved during the 2017–18 season, as the club finished 30–29–9, earning 69 points, and earning a playoff berth. In the post-season, the Storm lost to the Kitchener Rangers in the Western Conference quarter-finals.

Following the season, Caputi stepped down with the Storm, as he was hired as an associate coach with the Kingston Frontenacs.^[6]

On July 16, 2018, Caputi was hired by the Kingston Frontenacs as an associate coach, working with newly-hired head coach Kurtis Foster.^[7] The Frontenacs began a rebuilding process in 2018–19, as the club finished to a league-worst 14–52–2 record, earning 30 points, as the club failed to reach the post-season.

Caputi returned to Kingston in the 2019–20 season. The club saw some improvement and finished the season with a 19–39–4 record, earning 42 points. The team was in the eighth and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference, however, the post-season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the season, the club dismissed Foster as head coach, and hired Paul McFarland as his replacement as head coach. Caputi remained with the team as an associate coach.^[8] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 was cancelled. Following the cancellation of the season, McFarland stepped down as head coach.^[9]

Following McFarland's departure, the Frontenacs promoted Caputi to the head coaching position for the 2021–22 season.^[10] On October 8, 2021, Caputi coached his first game as head coach of the Frontenacs, as Kingston defeated the Ottawa 67's 8–1. In his first season as head coach, Caputi led the Frontenacs to a 41–22–5 record, earning 87 points and third place in the Eastern Conference. In the post-season, the Frontenacs defeated the Oshawa Generals in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals before losing to the North Bay Battalion in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

The rebuilding Frontenacs struggled in the

Caputi began the

In August 2024, Caputi was hired as an amateur scout by the Vancouver Canucks.^[12]

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
• Luca Caputi on Twitter