Halttunen, alongside William Eklund and Brandon Svoboda, was traded to Ottawa from San Jose on Tuesday in exchange for the No. 9 selection in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Halttunen will join the Senators organization just days after the team traded away its star winger, Brady Tkachuk. While Eklund should see the largest day-one role out of the members of Tuesday's trade, the 21-year-old Halttunen offers solid upside and a powerful build. Across 69 regular-season games with AHL San Jose during the 2025-26 campaign, he compiled 16 goals, 19 assists and 147 shots on net. The No. 36 overall pick from the 2023 NHL Draft will likely don an AHL Belleville jersey to begin the 2026-27 campaign, but he has the potential to push for playing time in the majors at some point later in the season.