Kasper Halttunen Can Bring Barracuda Needed Goalscoring
San Jose Sharks prospect Kasper Halttunen is eligible to play in the AHL next season and can bring the San Jose Barracuda some much-needed goalscoring.
Dean Tait - Hockey Shots - Kasper Halttunen Can Bring Barracuda Needed GoalscoringSan Jose Sharks prospect Kasper Halttunen is eligible to play in the AHL next season and can bring the San Jose Barracuda some much-needed goalscoring.
Halttunen and his patented shot made their way to North America to play for the London Knights last season. In 52 regular season games, Halttunen scored 32 goals. In 18 playoff games, he had 17 goals.
Halttunen can jump to professional hockey if he makes the San Jose Sharks or Barracuda out of training camp. If he makes the 'Cuda, he will bring much-needed scoring.
In 23-24, the 'Cuda had two players score 20+ goals, Ethan Cardwell and Danil Gushchin. The Sharks prospect pool has lacked a big-body pure goal scorer for a long time.
The Barracuda had a relatively good powerplay last season at 19.8%. That percentage put them eighth in the entire league. With Halttunen's one-timer, the success rate should rise even further.
Halttunen's knock was his skating, and while that has improved, more work needs to be done to take his game to the next level. Playing on North American ice last season was so beneficial for him.
"Just getting comfortable with the small ice was a big thing for me last year," Halttunen said at development camp. "At the end, I think I was pretty comfortable with smaller ice, and [I] got comfortable with everything like wallwork and all those things that you don't need that much in Europe."
As for what he thinks his plan will be for next season:
"I have no idea. [I will] try to work as hard as I can this Summer, and let's see what happens," Halttunen said.
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