RW Kasper Halttunen - London Knights , OHL (2023, 36th, SJS)

[bebl]

Surprised his thread is so short! 6’3”, very physical, great compete, really good hands and shot. Solid hockey IQ too, and his skating is fine, even if it’s not a standout skill. Seems like the kind of player GMs/scouts will love, I think he has a legit shot to go top 10, despite how stacked the draft is.

He’s not as far ahead, at the same age, as some recent top big-forward Finnish prospects, like Barkov, Laine and Kakko, but his tools are really good, and those guys were all 2nd overall picks. He seems like a guy with both a high floor and high ceiling. Maybe ppl are just gun-shy getting hyped about him after seeing hype balloon-then-burst for Kakko, Raty and Lambert?

He is probably way better prospect than his draft year production will be (if he plays for HIFK). As guy who watched +30 games of HIFK last year i know that coaching staff puts players name over production when they give icetime.

Also for example Barkov was 0,5 ppg before this draft year in Liiga and is center also is way more impressive than Halttunen's performances so far.

 

[ijuka]

Surprised his thread is so short! 6’3”, very physical, great compete, really good hands and shot. Solid hockey IQ too, and his skating is fine, even if it’s not a standout skill. Seems like the kind of player GMs/scouts will love, I think he has a legit shot to go top 10, despite how stacked the draft is.

He’s not as far ahead, at the same age, as some recent top big-forward Finnish prospects, like Barkov, Laine and Kakko, but his tools are really good, and those guys were all 2nd overall picks. He seems like a guy with both a high floor and high ceiling. Maybe ppl are just gun-shy getting hyped about him after seeing hype balloon-then-burst for Kakko, Raty and Lambert?

I think that he needs to have a strong Liiga season. At Hlinka for his own age group, Halttunen has 2 points in 3 games and is 6th on the team in scoring, which is underwhelming. His scoring last season was alright - similar to Joakim Kemell's a year earlier - but not very remarkable.

Yes, intriguing tools are intriguing tools, but I don't think that they're everything there is. Take Kristian Vesalainen, who had very interesting tools, but ended up being a complete bust. Vesalainen was actually predicted to go quite a bit earlier, but fell to the end of the first round because he failed to produce in his draft year. Actually, he's not so different from Halttunen in his performance so far.

I believe Halttunen said he could go to London if he doesn't get much ice time in Liiga. That move's not worked well for Finnish prospects, but perhaps it could for him.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Surprised his thread is so short! 6’3”, very physical, great compete, really good hands and shot. Solid hockey IQ too, and his skating is fine, even if it’s not a standout skill. Seems like the kind of player GMs/scouts will love, I think he has a legit shot to go top 10, despite how stacked the draft is.

He’s not as far ahead, at the same age, as some recent top big-forward Finnish prospects, like Barkov, Laine and Kakko, but his tools are really good, and those guys were all 2nd overall picks. He seems like a guy with both a high floor and high ceiling. Maybe ppl are just gun-shy getting hyped about him after seeing hype balloon-then-burst for Kakko, Raty and Lambert?

I don't think its about being gun shy; I just think there's a lot of room for improvement.

Obviously there's a lot to like, he's good really good size, he has a heavy shot that's missing accuracy, and he skates well for his size. The tools and package are intriguing.

The class is so deep and my issue so far watching Halttunen has been the shot accuracy, and a real lack of inside game and desire to challenge defenders with skill or physicality. He will settle for a shot from distance and isn't really looking to break anyone down.

 

[Jukurit]

Pretty underwhelming Hlinka tournament for Halttunen. Was trying too much and forcing plays. Looked easily frustrated.

 

[Ippenator]

Pretty underwhelming Hlinka tournament for Halttunen. Was trying too much and forcing plays. Looked easily frustrated.

Very, very disappointing indeed. He looked like he lacked all three - hockey IQ, intensity and determination. All these things that decide if a player becomes really great or not. Size, skating, hands and everything else become pretty much next to meaningless, if you lack those three important qualities as a player.

 

[Jukurit]

Very, very disappointing indeed. He looked like he lacked all three - hockey IQ, intensity and determination. All these things that decide if a player becomes really great or not. Size, skating, hands and everything else become pretty much next to meaningless, if you lack those three important qualities as a player.

I'm not sure if he lacks hockey IQ, or if he was just a young guy putting too much weight on his own shoulders. Captain, played at U18s last season, talk about him being a top prospect. Maybe expectations were just too high.
I have to see more of him.

 

[ijuka]

Very unremarkable play by him. Even as I was watching, he was vanilla and unnoticeable. Like a filler player. You wouldn't believe he was the captain, and the top prospect for the year's draft as well. Not sure Halttunen showed much heart, which is what I'd look for in a captain. Considering his size, he should have been able to achieve much more than he did. These are just u18 kids.

Unless he has a truly remarkable Liiga season, Button's top 5 prediction is a pipe dream.

 

[Jukurit]

Surprised his thread is so short! 6’3”, very physical, great compete, really good hands and shot. Solid hockey IQ too, and his skating is fine, even if it’s not a standout skill. Seems like the kind of player GMs/scouts will love, I think he has a legit shot to go top 10, despite how stacked the draft is.

He’s not as far ahead, at the same age, as some recent top big-forward Finnish prospects, like Barkov, Laine and Kakko, but his tools are really good, and those guys were all 2nd overall picks. He seems like a guy with both a high floor and high ceiling. Maybe ppl are just gun-shy getting hyped about him after seeing hype balloon-then-burst for Kakko, Raty and Lambert?

Could also just be that he's not good enough to get a lot of hype.

 

[WeThreeKings]

He hurt his stock to the most out of anyone at the tournament.

If you took the Canada super team out of the equation and the 2024s the guys you wanted to see most were Musty, Sale, Halttunen and Stenberg (forwards only).

Sale and Stenberg really balled out. Musty had his moments and his questions. Halttunen was actively bad, invisible or frustrated.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

He hurt his stock to the most out of anyone at the tournament.

If you took the Canada super team out of the equation and the 2024s the guys you wanted to see most were Musty, Sale, Halttunen and Stenberg (forwards only).

Sale and Stenberg really balled out. Musty had his moments and his questions. Halttunen was actively bad, invisible or frustrated.

Then again in the U18s he was actively good. Do these balance each other out? How does this work, do you have a system in place? A player's as good as his last game?

 

[ijuka]

Then again in the U18s he was actively good. Do these balance each other out? How does this work, do you have a system in place? A player's as good as his last game?

Well, last 5 games.

And yeah, it can show that he can handle a secondary role but can't handle a leadership role where he needs to be a difference-maker, which can be important if we're talking about a potential top 10 pick.

 

[JabbaJabba]

I wouldn't worry about a meh tournament performance. A couple of months ago people were really excited by Halttunen and now he sucks and won't become anything?

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Well, last 5 games.

And yeah, it can show that he can handle a secondary role but can't handle a leadership role where he needs to be a difference-maker, which can be important if we're talking about a potential top 10 pick.

He's 16

 

[HockeyHistorian]

He's 16

He is 17.

 

[ijuka]

He's 16

He's 17... The oldest players in the tournament are 17. What's your point?

 

[Erikfromfin]

It was just one tournament. Weve seen guy like Kupari do well here and Kotkaniemi botch it but then Jesperi went 3rd in draft. It was dissapointing but theres full season to go here to change things.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Then again in the U18s he was actively good. Do these balance each other out? How does this work, do you have a system in place? A player's as good as his last game?

You don't over-react to any one tournament but at this point, it looks like a lot of players in the same projected range as him have improved a lot vs. their peers and Halttunen hasn't shown much progression.

No one drafts off the Hlinka, it's one data point and we'll see how he progresses throughout the year. A good U-18 the previous year didn't help Shane Wright erase the stink of his draft eligible year.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

You don't over-react to any one tournament but at this point, it looks like a lot of players in the same projected range as him have improved a lot vs. their peers and Halttunen hasn't shown much progression.

No one drafts off the Hlinka, it's one data point and we'll see how he progresses throughout the year. A good U-18 the previous year didn't help Shane Wright erase the stink of his draft eligible year.

I really don't understand. He has a good season under his belt. One Hlinka tournament shows nothing about neither regression or improvement. Sucks that he didn't do better, doesn't really mean anything though.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I really don't understand. He has a good season under his belt. One Hlinka tournament shows nothing about neither regression or improvement.

Your most recent behaviors are a better indication of your future behaviors than something you've done a year ago, 5 years ago, etc.

The scouting season just started but the first impression Halttunen gave this year was not a good one. He has all the runway in the world to make this a blip on the radar.

One good tournament doesn't make Stancl a top 5 pick either. I'm not trying to over-state any one data point here, I am merely saying in the context of the tournament in which players stocks will trend up, down or stay stationary throughout the year.. he is the one at the tournament who had the poorest showing and may have shuffled himself behind that group with the first data point we have for 2022-2023.

 

[Nabrules]

Can’t put too much stock in one tourney. I had him top 10 going into the Hlinka, so naturally I can’t say he’s a bad player because of one event. to be clear though he wasn’t very good besides game 1. Let’s see how he does the upcoming season

 

[Ippenator]

Well, last 5 games.

And yeah, it can show that he can handle a secondary role but can't handle a leadership role where he needs to be a difference-maker, which can be important if we're talking about a potential top 10 pick.

Honestly I don’t think that one tournament gives that clear picture of it yet. Especially a tournament that is as meaningless as Hlinka is. It’s really more like a rehearsal tournament for the European teams and the USA. Canada seems to be the only country that somehow values the tournament very highly and it shows also in how they usually do in the tournament as well.

Anyway, I’m much more interested in seeing if Halttunen can get a role in HIFK’s Liiga team, and if he manages to do it, how well he will do in Liiga then. Also the U20 and U18 WJC tournaments tell me much more how well he is doing than a rehearsal tournament like Hlinka, where most of the players are playing in the middle of their training season. Quite a BS tournament honestly for making conclusions about young talents, but I can see that some North American scouts seem to hold it in enormous value though.

 

[pgfan66]

This may say more about my lack of scouting ability than it does about the player, but I actually wasn't that impressed with Halttunen at the u18s (and liked Uronen more) but was quite impressed at the Hlinka. That said, I liked him the most vs Germany and mostly liked his tools, not what he was (or wasn't) able to do with them.

Still, what this means for me going into the year is that Halttunen is a player to watch. Not more, not less. And I'm sure it's the same for NHL teams.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I think he was overrated by some people. I don’t see what about his game had people suggesting he’d be a top 5 or top 10 pick. I think he looks like a first round pick, but I would not suggest he looks like a top half of the first round type of player. He’s big, he skates well enough, and has some skill. Nothing about his game pops too much. He’s similar to Musty, except right handed instead of left.

 

[FINJuniors]

Won't be with Jokerit though...

Correct. Moved to HIFK.

Jokerit is in general losing players in juniors for the 2022-2023 season.

Reasons are probably somewhat poor junior coaching organization, Russian connection whether real anymore or not and because no path to SM Liiga. Also, KHL is of course not there anymore with their funding to the juniors, and families are afraid of the increasing fees.

 

[Jukurit]

Halttunen not on the lineup for HIFK's season opener. Very interested to see how things turn out with him. If he feels like he isn't getting enough icetime, does he leave for NA? HIFK also has Uronen and Kaskimäki as young guys competing for icetime (Neither of them is also on lineup for HIFK's season opener).