Ottawa Senators rookies blown away by Kasper Halttunen's release: 'He's got a bomb'

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“He can shoot the puck. That’s his kind of differentiating thing about him, right?” said Belleville Senators coach Andrew Campbell, who is behind the Ottawa bench for the weekend tournament. “He doesn’t need much time; he doesn’t need much space. That puck was on his stick and off his stick on his goal in a fraction of a second there. He had some other looks, too. But yeah, he’s a dynamic player and can put the puck in the net from anywhere in the offensive zone.”

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Halttunen was playing his final season with the OHL Knights when 16-year-old Jaxon Cover got called up for a few games in 2024-25. It didn’t take many practices for Cover to realize the power his veteran teammate wielded.

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“I don’t know how heavy it is, but I would not want to get in front of that at all,” Cover said. “Not a chance. It’s hefty. … He’s just trying to shoot it as hard as he can, but he can pick a corner, though.”

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This weekend, Cover and Halttunen reunited on the Sens’ top line, flanking centre Eskild Bakke Olsen. The trio also linked up on the first power-play unit, with Bakke Olsen setting up in the net-front position.

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“He’s got a bomb, for sure,” Bakke Olsen said of Halttunen. “Like, I’m used to standing in front of the goalie, so (there’s) nothing I’m afraid of, but if there’s someone, it’s his.”

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Before Halttunen makes the big club, he’ll likely need to make slight improvements with his skating and two-way game. But at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds and with a knack for throwing crunchy hits, he has the makings of a power forward.

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As a 20-year-old, Halttunen had 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists) in 69 games during his first full season with the American Hockey League’s San Jose Barracuda in 2025-26.

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His first goal of the season was a scorching one-timer from the left side of the offensive zone.

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So was his second.

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And his third.

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We’ve examined this numerous times before, but it especially bears repeating now: The Senators have not had a bona fide one-timer option on the power play since Josh Norris scored 35 goals in 2021-22.

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Maybe Halttunen is that weapon missing from the arsenal.

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