San Jose Barracuda
All-Star Poturalski Has Helped Transform Barracuda Locker Room

Andrew Poturalski is the AHL points leader this season. He’s also the San Jose Barracuda’s leading goal scorer.
And perhaps most importantly, per head coach John McCarthy, he and fellow Coachella Valley Firebirds alumni Jimmy Schuldt have helped lead the transformation of the Barracuda locker room.
For Poturalski, all this has culminated in his third AHL All-Star Classic appearance, this year at Coachella Valley’s Acrisure Arena, on Sunday and Monday.
But this one is a little more special than the others for the 31-year-old AHL veteran, which we’ll get to in a second.
Alternate captain Poturalski and newly-anointed Cuda captain Jimmy Schuldt both joined the the San Jose Sharks organization this past summer, following back-to-back Calder Cup Final appearances with the Firebirds.
This playoff success gave Schuldt and Poturalski “clout” in the Barracuda room, according to McCarthy.
Conversely, last season the San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate finished in last place in the Pacific Division with 62 points.
This season, they’ve already reached 51 points through 41 of 72 games – good enough for fifth in the Pacific Division and a spot in the playoffs at the moment.
“They both transformed our locker room, along with the other leaders that we have,” McCarthy said of Poturalski and Schuldt. “But those two, obviously, they’re familiar with each other, they’re good friends, and they’ve come in and brought a new identity to this team, and it’s fun to be a part of.”
“Jimmy and I like to think that we’re good teammates and like to bring that to the team, and it’s really fun to be a part of bringing the culture up to par here and changing a couple things,” Poturalski said. “It’s all the guys in the room, it’s everybody buying in, it’s the staff, the organization, it’s not just us, but definitely fun to be a part of it.”
It’s a room that Poturalski said he’s been told wasn’t always fun to be a part of last year, when they lost 48 total games.
Poturalski said he and Schuldt have made an impact on the mentality in the room, allowing for the improvement in results.
“There’s a lot of guys who can make plays up and down our lineup, and just believing that we can win, being positive, doing the right things, and being good teammates,” Poturalski said. “All that together changes culture. And being competitive, it starts in practice, every day. Every drill we do, we try to compete.”
Fellow AHL veteran Scott Sabourin – who along with Poturalski hit 500 AHL games played this season – said Poturalski understands how to win.
“He’s bringing some calmness to the locker room and a veteran presence, maybe a bit of a different eye than what we had last year coming off some losing,” Sabourin said. “It’s nice to have a couple winning mentalities in there with Jim and Pots, so I think it’s rubbing off on us in the right way.”
One aspect of his past winning teams that Poturalski has seen reflected with the Barracuda is a closeness off the ice that plays a role on the ice too.
“You want to go play for each other, you want to compete for each other. If someone gets hurt, you want to step up, or if you lose a battle, you take it personal,” Poturalski said. “I think this group is growing every day, and it’s definitely something special.”
One of Poturalski’s two Calder Cups came with the Chicago Wolves while now-San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky was his head coach during the 2021-2022 season.
The other, came in the 2018-2019 season with the Charlotte Checkers. And that time, Warsofsky was the assistant coach.
Poturalski credited Warsofsky as a big contributing factor to his signing with the San Jose Sharks.
“That guy wants to win more than anybody out there. He gets super-fiery. You can just tell by being around him, his passion for winning and how badly he wants to win,” Poturalski said. “His energy and how bad he wants to win, as a player, it makes you want to run through a wall for him.”
But what have been the keys to actually affecting change for Poturalski?
Leading by example, for one.
“You just try and be a good person. Go about your business, doing the right things, put the extra time in, work hard, be nice to everybody, even if it’s outside of hockey” Poturalski said. “Say hi to someone, ask them how their day is going. Little things like that. Just being a good person goes a long way.”
That emphasis off the ice culminated in inviting a few of the younger players to his house and giving them cooking tips, he said on Tank Talk with Brodie Brazil.
He added that he’s even affected some of their dining tastes, as Collin Graf ordered bone marrow at a restaurant after trying it at Poturalski’s.
Poturalski’s third AHL All-Star appearance will be about another kid.
His son Morrison, after Doors’ frontman Jim Morrison, is nearly three, and will get the chance to join his dad at the All-Star game for the first time, during the skills competition. He also has a daughter Mayer with wife Haley.
Poturalski said he’s excited to make some memories with his oldest.
And with the Cuda, who should bring real playoff hockey back to the city of San Jose for the first time since 2019, in large part because of “Potsy”.
Tonight was a fun night @sjbarracuda. Worth the drive down pic.twitter.com/fhq7DteNG0
— M. Schaf (@Sendit650) February 3, 2025
“Bringing the culture up to par and changing a couple of things” has me very intrigued as to what was wrong before. I remember previous SJHN episodes touching on this after a player’s statements being traded from there (I forgot who exactly). Nevertheless, super glad to see the vibes are great on the team! Especially with the young talent on there. Shades of Granlund, lol. Great piece, always love reading about the Cuda.
Let’s trade this guy for another 1!
I think you’re thinking of Martin Kaut, who’s been plying his trade in Czechia lately, after coming to the Sharks for Ryan Merkley. There were also a couple AHL vets (Agozzino, for one, comes to mind) that asked out in recent years.
I’d be curious what Sheng could dig up (now that it’s in the, albeit recent, past) on what wasn’t working before. But mostly I’m just really glad to hear that things are looking up and they have the right guys now.
Bring him up for a cup of coffee so he can get a big dog pay check for a couple games. he deserves it
maybe even score his 1st NHL too? at 31 as well. a feel-good story waiting to happen.