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

[one2gamble]

It sounds from interviews (Todd Marchant, Sam Dickinson, Grier) that Haltts really needs to work on his conditioning. Dicky said Haltt's pregame meal is pancakes with syrup, and Marchant talked extensively about Haltt's work trying to get his weight under control / nutrition. He has the opposite problem of some of SJS's stick figure prospects. With that in mind + his dev path (great shot, could round out his game) I'd be slightly in favor of him heading to the AHL this year to step up the "pro hockey" lifestyle and work on ES play and translating his shot to a higher league.

Of course, if the decision is for him to go back to Juniors and play a bigger role in London, I'm sure that's fine too.

Pancakes and syrup as a pregame meal isn't actually a bad thing

 

[coooldude]

Pancakes and syrup as a pregame meal isn't actually a bad thing

I don't think that being known as the guy who eats everyone else's pancakes at pregame meal is a good thing if you're not Ovie. Taken next to the Marchant comments, dude is already working on improving his fitness and diet. You don't have to believe me, you can just go listen to the interviews.

 

[ijuka]

Pancakes and syrup as a pregame meal isn't actually a bad thing

it actually is a pretty bad thing.

 

[Dead Coyote]

I am a huge Haltty fan/supporter, but this is his spot, his shot. He doesnt really find the back of the net any other way, which makes him predictable and one dimensional in regards to his offensive game. Hoping he takes good direction from Sharks/'Cuda coaching staff and enhances his game to get a little more parity.

He scores in plenty of other ways. May not be as projectable as that 1T is from that spot in the NHL but he has great hands in tight and isn't afraid to go to the net. He could easily become a guy like Pavelski in front of the net with his tip ins and while he doesn't have the nose that guys like Eiserman or Michkov do, he's still very projectable. He just doesn't have the skating or acceleration to score off the rush outside of passes on odd man rushes or shots the goalie can't see but he should still be perfectly fine as a goal scorer with his current skills. If he loses a little weight and starts to really fly out there, watch out.