2023 NHL Draft prospect Kasper Halttunen isn’t afraid of anyone

Kasper Halttunen (Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff)

BASEL, Switzerland – Standing tall at 6-foot-3 and 207 pounds, Kasper Halttunen is one heck of an imposing figure.

And then he throws on the skates and… yeah, he’s not someone you want to mess with.

But he’s a happy fella. His teammates say he’s always smiling. He’s had plenty of reasons to smile at the U-18 World Championship in Basel, including a key moment in an eventual 8-4 loss against USA in the round robin. There was plenty of trash-talking between the two Group B heavyweights, with most of the key figures having spent the past two years bashing eachother on the ice in international play. Halttunen was a key conspirator, going after anyone who’d take him on, including USA goaltender Trey Augustine.

At one point, he told Augustine exactly where he planned to shoot the puck.

“I told him I would score top left. And then I did,” Halttunen said with a smile. And there’s a good chance he said a bit more, but we’ll leave it at that. He thrives in moments like those. He’s not afraid to be the villain. And that’s what makes watching the HIFK forward so interesting.

Halttunen is one of the driving forces of the Finnish attack in Switzerland and one of the country’s top prospects for the 2023 NHL Draft. Some scouts seem mixed – he primarily played in the top Finnish league and had just one assist in 27 games to show for it. He was much better in U-20 play and has been a point-per-game player at the U-18 national team level, so we know he can handle playing against kids.

Enough so to get scouts talking.

“It looks like he’s playing against peewee kids out there,” a European scout said. “He’s just so much bigger, much more physically dominant.”

That didn’t lead to success in Liiga play, but the fact he spent that long against men is still a good sign. There’s not a ton he can do against kids on a consistent basis. So that experience against the best the country has to offer is good. But still, scouts wish they could have seen better results.

Halttunen is a pure power forward, one that’s willing to get up in your face at any point possible. He said he likes watching Mikko Rantanen and Patrik Laine, two big Finnish forwards who can land hits from time to time but love getting the puck on net. From a power standpoint, Halttunen has one of the hardest shots in the draft. He has already put it on full display a couple times in the tournament, so you don’t want to give him a ton of space. Halttunen needs to get his shot under control a bit better because he misses the net a bit too often. But when he finds the sweet spot, watch out.

For a player his size, Halttunen is a strong skater. That goes back to the main theme: power. His stride has taken nice steps forward over the past year, even in comparison to the previous iteration of the U-18s. Sometimes it might take him a bit to get to his top speed, but when he does, he’s quick. And then if you let him, he’ll absolutely flatten you.

“I’m a hungry goal scorer, big bodied and I want to do whatever it takes to win games,” Halttunen said.

He can score. He can skate. And he can hit. There’s a lot to like here.

Halttunen will likely go in the first round, albeit quite late. That’s in stark contrast to early season predictions when many saw him as a potential top 10 pick. A concussion in October knocked him down significantly, and then his lack of production on one of the worst scoring groups in the Liiga didn’t help. A couple scouts I’ve talked to have regained a bit of trust in Halttunen’s game in Switzerland, with some of his old confidence creeping back in. It’s safe to say some scouts are worried he won’t reach the potential many projected before 2022-23. But he’s still young and has a long way to go. You can’t deny that he has the tools to succeed in the NHL.

It’ll be an interesting few weeks for Halttunen. He’ll look to lead Finland to gold at the U-18s before preparing for the NHL Draft Combine in early June. Then it’s up to the teams to see if they’re worried about his season enough to see him fall in the draft, or whether they see the potential. Because there’s a ton of that, but putting it all together is the biggest challenge.

Just don’t go 1-on-1 with on the ice. He’ll make you pay.

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2023 NHL Draft prospect Kasper Halttunen isn’t afraid of anyone

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