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Halttunen was selected 36th overall by the Sharks in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft on Thursday.
Halttunen has about as much upside as you can find at this point of the draft. He demolished the Finnish junior league a year ago (18G, 24P in 18GP) and had some nice moments for his home country on the international circuit. He was noticeably less effective in 27 games with HIFK in Finland's top league, managing just a single assist while seeing sporadic playing time most nights. Halttunen has a hard, heavy shot and excellent size (6-foot-3, 205 pounds), but he gets pushed to the perimeter far too often for such a big kid. Halttunen is a potential home run for San Jose if everything clicks, but he's going to have to figure out a way to impact games on a more consistent basis moving forward.
