GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA AT STARS

Oct 27, 2018

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Tonight’s Matchup: The Barracuda make their only visit to Cedar Park on Saturday in the first of two meetings on the season against the Texas Stars (Dallas Stars). Last year, the Barracuda went 2-0-1-1 against the Rampage, 0-0-1-1 at the H-E-B Center and are 2-3-1-1 all-time at Texas.

Divisional Shakeup: This offseason, both San Antonio and Texas moved from the AHL’s Pacific Division to the AHL’s Central Division with the addition of the league's 31st franchise, the Colorado Eagles.

Familiar Faces: Dillon Heatherington, Gavin Bayreauther, Joel L’Esperance, Colin Markison, Roope Hintz, Travis Morin, Reece Scarlett, Denis Guryanov, Landon Bow, Niklas Hansson, Sam Laberge return from Texas’s Calder Cup Final team from a year ago. Texas’s 2018-19 squad is the AHL’s 13th youngest roster with an average age of 22.88 years.

Letunov’s Loose: Originally a second-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues, Maxim Letunov is off to a red-hot start to his pro career. Letunov has goals in back-to-back games and now co-leads the Barracuda in goals (4)  and has four points (two goals, two assists) over his last two games. Letunov was traded to the Coyotes from the Blues in March of 2015 and then was shipped to the Sharks in a draft day trade with the Coyotes in 2016.

Fabulous Francis: On September 13, as a part of the Erik Karlsson trade, Francis Perron was acquired from the Ottawa Senators. Thus far, Perron leads the Barracuda in points (10), goals (5), power-play goals (3), and is tied for the team lead in game-winning goals (1).

Hot Halbgewachs: Rookie forward Jayden Halbgewachs scored on Sunday and now has goals in back-to-back games. The Emerald Park, Saskatoon native has points in all but two games this season for the Barracuda. The 21-year-old was signed by the Sharks as an undrafted free agent last December and earned CHL Top Scorer honors in 2017-18 after collecting 129 points (70 goals, 59 assists) in 72 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL.

Youth Movement: The Barracuda opened up the 2018-19 season with 10 rookies and the AHL’s youngest roster, averaging 22.7 years old. Just 13 players on San Jose’s 25-man opening night roster skated for the Barracuda a season ago. In addition, just three players on the Barracuda’s current roster were drafted by the Sharks (John McCarthy, Manuel Wiederer, Jeremy Roy). The other 21 were either signed as free agents or acquired in a trade.