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Originally Posted by Craven Morehead
Who is this Luttinen kid?? I've seen some references to him being a darkhorse to make the team like an Arvedson way back when. What style does he play?? Is it a dream that he comes over and makes the team this year or any year or is it a real possibility??
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Well, I don't see a lot of Finnish Elite League games, but Luttinen was the team's 3rd round pick in 2002 after Kaigorodov, has played for HIFK Helsinki (top-tier) every year since being drafted, and put up career best offensive totals last year (18G/44Pts in 56GP - those numbers the year before would have put him 1pt out of the top 10 in scoring, and that was with NHL'ers in the fold). I've seen some suggestion from people posting from Europe that while he's not tall he's pretty solid on his skates (5'10, 205ish) and has something of a willingness to drive the net. Now whether or not he has some of that Finnish irritability to him I don't know, but he's put up over a PIM/GP the last two seasons.
He may be a darkhorse, but it's not like he's just coming over to try out - they signed him in June, and he'll be in camp to earn a spot... and at 23 with 4 years of pro-level experience under his belt and a noticeable improvement in his production along the way, I wouldn't count him out. A lot will depend on his skating, but if he plays any kind of 2-way game it's far from inconceivable that he could land a spot - and if there's any touch of Holmstrom in his game he could be a very welcome addition. If the killer H's are getting serious looks (Hamel, Hennessy, Heerema), I don't see why Luttinen wouldn't - in some ways he might even have a better shot than any of those three.