On Saturday, Jimmy Huntington made his Barracuda debut, notching a aim and an help in a 7-6 win over the Bakersfield Condors, his first regular-season motion in practically a yr.
Within the spring of 2024, the Laval, Quebec, native had a breakout postseason, recording 14 factors (5 targets, 9 assists) in 20 video games with the Hershey Bears throughout a playoff run that noticed the league’s oldest franchise seize its second consecutive Calder Cup and thirteenth in staff historical past.
Throughout the common season, Huntington set profession highs in targets (16), factors (33), plus/minus (+25), power-play targets (4), shorthanded targets (1), and game-winning targets (5).
Within the Calder Cup Finals in opposition to Coachella Valley, he tallied seven factors (one aim, six assists) in six video games, together with two helpers within the series-clinching 5-4 extra time win.
“The best way I see it, it’s the playoffs. While you play within the playoffs, there’s adversity, proper? There’s stuff that occurs there that doesn’t occur within the common season, and also you develop as a person, as a participant. That’s stuff you possibly can’t purchase in the course of the season,” stated Huntington. “I feel that’s when my profession took off. Even the yr earlier than, once I was in Milwaukee, we misplaced within the convention ultimate in opposition to Coachella.”
Coming off one of the best stretch of hockey in his five-year profession, Huntington signed a one-year NHL contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 1, 2024.
In 4 video games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, he collected 4 factors (one aim, three assists) earlier than his season was abruptly ended because of a knee harm, a devastating blow to a participant on the ascent.
“Final yr wasn’t the yr I anticipated,” Huntington admitted. “Coming off a championship with Hershey, getting the subsequent alternative to go play within the NHL.”
Huntington went undrafted in 2018 however, after a 90-point season as a 20-year-old within the QMJHL with the Rimouski Océanic, he was signed to a three-year entry-level contract by the Tampa Bay Lightning in March 2019.
That was the primary of a number of instances the Sharks tried to court docket the six-foot, 201-pound ahead. Popping out of junior, then-Basic Supervisor Doug Wilson and his son Doug Wilson Jr. went and noticed him play. Even final yr, following his playoff success with Hershey, San Jose made one other try to signal him.
“Once I was in Rimouski, the entire Sharks administration, Doug Wilson and his son, got here to see me, and Tampa was there too,” Huntington stated. “Even final yr, I nearly signed right here, however I made a decision to go together with Pittsburgh. It’s a bit ironic, generally there are indicators in life. I’m simply completely satisfied to be right here proper now.”
His time with the Lightning wasn’t a linear path. He bounced between their AHL affiliate in Syracuse and ECHL membership in Orlando. On Feb. 1, 2022, he was traded to Nashville for ahead Anthony Richard.
The next season, he signed a one-year AHL contract with Milwaukee and helped the Admirals attain the Convention Finals. After that run, he joined Hershey on one other one-year AHL deal. It wasn’t till the summer season of 2024 that he lastly earned one other NHL contract.
“What NHL groups need are winners,” Huntington stated. “That provides one other stage to your résumé, to indicate you have been a part of a staff that received. Simply being round that atmosphere, that’s what organizations need. They need to win. And also you see it with Washington (Hershey’s NHL affiliate) proper now, they’re doing properly.”
“He’s a participant that has persevered,” stated Barracuda Basic Supervisor Joe Will. “He’s all the time had the expertise. When he first turned professional, it was a little bit of a gradual go as a result of he couldn’t simply depend on his offense, so he needed to study the opposite components of the sport.”
Now a member of the Sharks group, Huntington feels proper at residence, with a franchise trying to return to prominence and an AHL staff stuffed with younger expertise that may profit from his expertise.
“They’ve needed me for a very long time, and it simply looks like residence proper now,” stated Huntington. “After final yr, taking part in solely 4 video games, I’m able to roll.”
“Being round Hershey, being round a very good Calder Cup-winning staff, that actually pays off,” added Will.
If the Barracuda are to have the season they hope for, Huntington will play an enormous function. If all goes properly, the staff will win loads of video games, and he may get his first shot within the NHL.
