Halttunen has been traded to the Ottawa Senators, along with William Eklund and Brandon Svoboda for the ninth overall pick in this week’s draft. The pick was one of the pieces in the Brady Tkachuk trade, and was quickly moved to attempt to fill the hole left by the captain’s surprise departure. Though Eklund is the biggest piece, Halttunen is more than just a throw in. He is a very respectable prospect, and could push for an extended look out of camp, but is likely due to gain experience in Belleville for the majority of the season.

Halttunen’s first full AHL season has looked like the right kind of adjustment year. San Jose kept him on the Barracuda’s opening-night roster, and by early April he was up to 13 goals and 18 assists in 61 games, with a clear second-half push after the offense came in bursts early.

The calling card still jumps off the page. He remains a shot-led winger, and the best example came in his first AHL hat trick on Feb. 15, when the third goal came on a power-play one-timer. Since then, the production has started to stack more consistently, including points in eight of 11 games as of March 10 and more finish showing up later in March.

The encouraging part is that this season has not felt like pure junior carryover. The Barracuda year has forced him to play through tighter windows, earn ice inside structure, and find offense without living only on junior-level time and space. He still projects more as a finisher than a driver, and his NHL ceiling will hinge on how much his off-puck pace, route timing, and play processing keep rounding out. But the trend since February is strong enough that 2026-27 should be about pushing for NHL games, not just talking about long-term upside.

Halttunen split his season between the London Knights of the OHL and the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. Beginning with six games for the Barracuda, where he tallied four points He was then returned to London, where he recorded 41 points in 38 regular season OHL games. In the playoffs he erupted, leading London with 21 points in 17 games earning the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as OHL Playoff MVP, and helping the Knights capture the Memorial Cup. His performance reinforced his reputation as a powerful scoring winger, blending a lethal one‑timer, heavy shot, and net‑front impact. While he will likely need a full AHL season before he is AHL ready, his shot is already NHL-caliber and he could see NHL action as early as 2025-26.