Coming in at 14th on our Top 25 San Jose Sharks Under 25 is 20-year-old Kasper Halttunen. The Finnish forward has taken longer to develop than some might have liked, especially after looking so promising on his draft day in 2023. While his NHL-caliber shot is still something to marvel at, the rest of his game has not developed at the speed that Sharks fans would have liked.
Halttunen did not have a prolific scoring season with the London Knights in the OHL and that will make fans take pause. After having a so-so start with the San Jose Barracuda, in which he scored four points in six games, Halttunen was sent back to his OHL team, the London Knights. There, he scored a respectable 41 points (21 G, 20 A) in 38 games and registered another 21 points (15 G, 6 A) in 17 games in the playoffs. While good, it was approximately the same points per game (1.07) that he scored last season, certainly not the progress you would hope to see from one of the more senior forwards in the OHL.
That said, the stat sheet doesn’t tell the whole story. The London Knights organization is known for its development of players and the work that Halttunen put in was to round out his game. The young forward went back to the OHL to specifically work on his two-way game. As London Knights Assistant General Manager Rob Simpson told The Athletic in January, Halttunen spent this past season becoming more responsible defensively, earning a spot on London’s penalty kill and improving his play at five-on-five.
“He had a good summer this year training-wise and working on the areas that he needed to and now he has become a complete player, and every game you just see more and more of that coming out with us this season where (head coach Dale Hunter) is trusting to put him in situations not just in offence but more defensive situations as well too, which is nice to see,” Simpson told The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler.
Position: Forward
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 205 lbs.
Age: 20
Date of Birth: June 7, 2005
Draft Year: 2023 (36th overall by the San Jose Sharks)
Shoots: Right
2025-26 Team: San Jose Barracuda
What we like
Halttunen continues to have the best shot outside of the NHL, and some might argue that his shot is a lot better than some of the players currently in the NHL. That’s his asset, and it’s going to be what ultimately gets him a long look with the Sharks or another NHL team when the time comes. That alone makes him a threat.
But what we also like is that he had the wherewithal last season to understand that there are holes in his game, take that feedback and work hard to improve. He could have gone back to the OHL and simply spent another season loading up and firing pucks from the faceoff circle and piling up points. He could have padded his stats. However, he took what the Sharks told him to heart and he worked on things. That’s a level of professionalism that you have to appreciate in a 19/20-year-old kid who is so close to realizing his dream of becoming a professional ice hockey player. It certainly bodes well for what he could produce this season on the ice for the Barracuda.
The fact that Halttunen has earned penalty kill time on the London Knights is a good sign that his work has paid off.
Areas of improvement
Of course, the question is whether the defensive aspects of his game will translate to the next level in the AHL. We have no doubt that offensively, Halttunen can be a force. It’s a question of whether or not he’s added enough to his game defensively.
Consistency and patience will be key for Halttunen this season because we predict a lot of ups and downs. It feels like there have been a lot of expectations placed on the young forward from the moment he was drafted in 2023 until now. Sharks fans have certainly expected a lot. He was 15th on our 25 Under 25 list the very first season he was drafted and moved up to 11th on our list last season. Fans have been chomping at the bit to see him on the ice. If that’s how we feel, imagine how the player feels.
Halttunen is close, but that’s why it’s more important than ever that he trust the process and have patience. He’s likely not going to be the first guy called up this season, and, in all honesty, he won’t be the fifth guy either. That’s going to be tough to swallow, especially if kids like Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Michael Misa are living it up in the NHL. Halttunen is going to have to have patience and understand that his time will come, he just has to continue to put in the work. So far, he’s done that.
What’s next for Halttunen?
This season, Halttuen will play full-time with the San Jose Barracuda. He’ll have a full complement of young, skilled forwards to work with, including Quentin Musty, Filip Bystedt, Cam Lund, Igor Chernyshov and Ethan Cardwell. While we don’t expect him to get top-line minutes with the Barracuda, we do expect that he’ll get top minutes on the power play. That one-timer is just too good.
One thing to watch out for is whether Head Coach John McCarthy continues to work on Halttunen’s two-way game. If he does, it could develop the forward into a solid third liner with power-play upside. That’s something that would bode incredibly well for the Sharks moving forward as the team begins to take shape and enter its Stanley Cup contention window.
Highlights
A point per game is nothing to sneer and some kind YouTuber put them all together for us, so enjoy!
Previous Top 25 Under 25 Posts
15. Eric Pohlkamp
16. Cam Lund
17. Ethan Cardwell
18. Haoxi Wang
19. Leo Sahlin Wallenius
20. Jack Thompson
21. Cole McKinney
22. Zack Ostapchuk
23. Mattias Havelid
24. Egor Afanasyev
25. Carson Wetsch
Honorable Mentions: Joey Muldowney, Jake Furlong, Brandon Svoboda, Nate Misskey, Gabriel Carriere
