Halttunen uses longest summer in years to take his game to the next level

Just like Alex Ovechkin and Patrik Laine before him, Kasper Halttunen loves the left faceoff circle. 

His shot, described as ‘hefty’ and ‘a bomb’ during training camp, is the most NHL-ready aspect of the 21-year-old’s game. It helped him quickly establish himself in his rookie pro season with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, with his eight power play goals tied for second on the team.

This summer, he worked hard to round out the rest of that game, with a heavy focus on skating. He had a lot more time to do so than the previous few summers.

Even though Halttunen played in 71 games last year with the Barracuda across the regular season and playoffs, the ensuing offseason was long by his standards, offering a chance for some extended training.

Halttunen began the 2024–25 season with the Barracuda but was reassigned back to London after six games. It worked out well for all parties — he helped the Knights finish the job and take home a Memorial Cup a season after reaching the tournament but failing to win.

Both years, he was playing hockey into June. After the seasons finished, he tried to take a couple of weeks off to get his mind reset. But his breaks were short — he wanted to get back moving again and get better physically. 

Add in appearances with the Finnish U-20 team at the World Juniors and other international competitions over his major junior career, and then rookie tournaments and exhibition games with San Jose each season, and Halttunen had played almost 200 games across the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons combined.

“I hadn't had a long summer in a long time, so yeah, it was good,” said Halttunen during training camp.

“This year, things were different, and I thought I had a really good summer… it took my training to the next level and I was focusing a lot on power — power in my legs and doing a lot of power skating. That was the biggest thing for me, physically, that I could do to get my body right and get my legs moving.”

In the middle of the summer, he was traded to the Senators alongside William Eklund and Brandon Svoboda in exchange for the ninth overall pick in the draft, which the Sens had acquired as part of the package for Brady Tkachuk.

That gave Halttunen an extra dose of motivation, which heightened when he was welcomed quickly by his new Finnish teammates. 

After he played in a charity hockey game back home in Sweden with Senators defenceman Nikolas Matinpalo, he was offered the opportunity to stay with the 27-year-old during training camp when he arrived in Ottawa.

At Matinpalo’s place, he said the two have been spending their time away from the rink watching the Netflix documentary series Quarterback.

“It’s nice to have some Finns here, they’re really good guys,” said Halttunen of Matinpalo.

“He’s been good, very good guy,” said Matinpalo. “Likes to [play] hockey a lot. Likes to watch hockey a lot.”

At the rink, he’s been spending time with his new Senators teammates, like Blake Montgomery — whom he won that Memorial Cup with in London — and Jaxon Cover, who practiced with the Knights that season and got into three games. 

It’s not really a surprise that he has familiar teammates around him in Ottawa. The Knights’ alumni network stretches far and wide across the NHL, and that’s a testament to the success of the program.

“I guess that just tells you how good of an organization that the London Knights are,” said Halttunen.

“They do a really good job developing players and getting players on the right path. And they're pretty good every year, they make the playoffs, and every year there's a lot of draft picks coming from London. It’s been fun playing with those same guys and seeing the guys grow from their London days.”

London was also Halttunen’s introduction to playing hockey in a Canadian market. The Knights pace the OHL year-in and year-out in attendance, averaging over 9,000 fans a game.

“They call it the mini-NHL for a reason. The city loves their hockey, loves the London Knights. So, yeah, it was special to play there. You know, getting recognized a lot, there's a lot of young kids looking up to you,” said Halttunen.

“You always know there's some kids watching the team and watching the guys play, so you just want to remember when you were that little kid watching those teams play and how excited you were. 

“So yeah, just trying to take all the time that you can to sign autographs or whatever it is, because it is important to give back to the community too. And I mean, yeah, they were awesome to us. So it was it was really exciting.”

Be it Belleville or Ottawa, Halttunen is excited to play in a Canadian market again, even if it means leaving behind the weather in San Jose.

“It's a different atmosphere for sure. You know, they breathe hockey here in Canada, and I was for sure excited [about the trade]. Obviously, it's always sad to say goodbye to those guys,” said Halttunen. 

“You know, I met a lot of really good, close friends, and got to know all the staff and everyone. So of course that's the sad part, but you know what? It's a good opportunity for me, and I’m really excited to play in front of the Canadian fans again.”

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