The San Jose Sharks have signed 2023 draft choice Kasper Halttunen to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team said today. CapFriendly reports the deal carries a $940K cap hit with the breakdown as follows:
2023-24: $825K base salary + $95K signing bonus + $30K games played bonus + $82.5K minor salary
2024-25: $855K base salary + $95K signing bonus + $82.5K minor salary
2025-26: $855K base salary + $95K signing bonus + $82.5K minor salary
The hulking Finnish winger already stands at 6-foot-3 and 216 pounds, and he went off the board to the Sharks early in the second round with the 36th overall pick. He didn’t necessarily turn many heads in pro play, recording just one assist in limited minutes throughout 27 games with Liiga club HIFK, but he dominated amongst his age group with 24 points in 18 junior games with HIFK and ten points in five games while captaining the national squad at the 2023 IIHF U-18 World Championship.
The appeal with Halttunen lies mostly with his size and his shot – 18 of those 24 points in juniors were goals, and he had six goals in five games at the U-18s. Some skating issues and concerns about his overall hockey sense let him slip to the second round, and he’ll need a long development track before making an NHL impact.
He’s likely to get loaned back to HIFK for the 2023-24 campaign, which will slide the start of his entry-level contract back another season (assuming he plays less than ten NHL games). It’ll be three or four years before we likely see Halttunen in a Sharks jersey on a full-time basis, but when he does, expect one thing if nothing else – shots on goal.
Seems to be strong sense he’ll end up with the London Knights , which would be good for him and his development