Photo courtesy: NHL.com

Fantasy Summary

Productive top-six winger, with an elite shot along with fabulous hits and shots peripherals.


Observations

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August 2024 – Huuhtanen signed his entry level contract with the Lightning last month and is ready to start his professional career in North America. Huuhtanen spent the last two years in Finland playing for Jukurit in Liiga. His first year in Finland he was named Liiga’s top rookie. In his second year, he led his team in points. After losing the Liiga quarterfinals, he managed to suit up for four playoff games with the Syracuse Crunch. In his limited sample with the Crunch, he already notched two assists and secured himself deployment in the second power play unit. The 6-foot-2 wing is willing to get his hands dirty and play physically. He possesses a good shot and playmaking skills that should have little issue translate to North American ice. The glaring weakness in his game is skating. It is noticeably a weakness and the faster paced North American game could prove an issue for him if he can’t improve. Huuhtanen is unlikely to make the Lightning this season. If he can work on his skating and play at the level he’s been able to in Finland, he could fight for a roster spot next season. Markus Roach

June 2022 – Huuhtanen just signed a two year agreement with Jukurit in the Liiga. He is coming off a good season and playoffs for Everett in the WHL registering 77 points in 65 games in the regular season, and 10 points in five playoff games. Playing against men will help him develop more physically and improve his pace of play. Caleb Kerney

June 2022 – Tampa may have pulled the wool over every organization’s eyes by selecting Huuhtanen with the last draft pick of the entire 2021 draft. Huuhtanen has a ton of skill and a ton of grit to his game. He has top-six winger potential: he can grind teams down by finishing his checks and relentlessly forechecking defenders in their own zone to win back possession. He’s neutral in his own zone – not a liability but not great either – which should be the minimum expectation of a scoring winger in the NHL. He has decent mobility and decent top-speed skating but will need to work on being stronger and quicker on his skates. He can create the time and space needed to score in the WHL, but without improvements to his skating, reaching his top-six potential will be difficult. Caleb Kerney

Attributes
Fantasy Upside 8.0
NHL Certainty 7.0
Country FIN
Position RW
Roster Type Minors
Shoot/Glove Right
Date of Birth June 26, 2003
Height 6‘2”
Weight 209 lbs
Drafted Round 7; Overall: 224

Stats

 Season Team League GP G A TP PIM      Playoffs GP G A TP PIM 
 2015-2016 Western Canada Selects U13WSI U138 4 1115 4|        
  Blues SelectsQC Int PW2 0 11 4|        
 2016-2017 Finland Selects U14WSI U147 3 710 16|        
 2017-2018 Kiekko-Espoo U16U16 SM-sarja Q22 23 3760 42|        
  Kiekko-Espoo U18 AkatemiaU18 SM-sarja12 2 24 38|        
 2018-2019 Kiekko-Espoo U16U16 SM-sarja Q10 8 1422 12|        
  Kiekko-Espoo U16U16 SM-sarja5 2 79 2|Playoffs1 0 00 12 
  Kiekko-Espoo U18U18 SM-sarja37 6 2026 61|Playoffs4 1 34 16 
  Finland U16 (all)International-Jr6 3 14 2|        
 2019-2020 Kiekko-Espoo U18U18 SM-sarja1 1 12 0|        
  Kiekko-Espoo U20U20 SM-sarja48 18 1634 54|        
  Finland U17WHC-175 1 34 8|        
  Finland U17 (all)International-Jr15 1 89 43|        
 2020-2021 Tappara U20U20 SM-sarja37 20 1434 73|Playoffs2 1 01
  Finland U18WJC-187 2 35 4|        
 2021-2022 Everett SilvertipsWHL65 37 4077 85|Playoffs5 5 510 10 
 2022-2023 JukuritLiiga48 17 1330 72|        
  JukuritChampions HL7 3 14 8|        
  Finland U20WJC-205 2 13 4|        
  Finland U20 (all)International-Jr10 4 610 12|        
 2023-2024 JukuritLiiga52 19 2746 46|Playoffs6 0 33 33 
  Finland EHT4 2 13 0|        
  Syracuse CrunchAHL0 0 00 0|Playoffs4 0 22
  Finland (all)International4 2 13 0|        
 2024-2025 Syracuse CrunchAHL23 8 1018 33|        

Highlights