Poturalski on Winning AHL MVP, His Brand of Leadership, Origin Story of ‘Be a Pig’ & More (+)

LOS ANGELES — The San Jose Sharks organization has an MVP.

Andrew Poturalski has won the Les Cunningham Award for AHL MVP for the 2024-25 season.

Poturalski led the league with 73 points, and helped spearhead the San Jose Barracuda’s return to the Calder Cup playoffs, their first time since 2019.

Poturalski spoke with local media about the honor this afternoon, in an entertaining sit-down that touched on the honest reason why he signed with the San Jose Sharks, the origin of Barracuda playoff motto “Be a Pig”, and the birth on Thursday night of his third child.

For the Barracuda, their alternate captain is not just the most valuable on the ice, he’s the most valuable off the ice too.

“He’s an impressive, elite offensive driver,” head coach John McCarthy said. “Most importantly, for our team, he’s a great leader, a great person, he brings people together, that type of personality.”

“You see what he does, not only on the ice producing, but off the ice as a leader, as a veteran guy. He’s someone who guys can lean on, guys can look to in all aspects,” captain Jimmy Schuldt said.

Schuldt gave a recent example: Poturalski has been out of the line-up since Mar.28 with a week-to-week lower-body injury, but he had a bunch of the younger Barracuda players over before the playoffs for dinner.

“Stuff like that is what makes him really important to this team and the MVP,” Schuldt noted.

Poturalski also took us inside how he leads, even when he’s not playing, including who came over for this recent dinner.

This is 31-year-old Poturalski’s first MVP, but he’s been a regular candidate. This is the third time that he’s led the AHL in scoring and he’s a four-time regular season AHL All-Star team selection.

He’s also a two-time Calder Cup champion and took home playoff MVP in 2019.