SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that forward Andrew Poturalski of the San Jose Barracuda has been voted the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s most valuable player for the 2024-25 season.
The award was voted on by coaches, players and members of the media representing each of the league’s 32 cities.
This is the first MVP award for Poturalski, whose AHL career accolades include three scoring titles and two Calder Cup championships. Despite missing the final three weeks of the 2024-25 regular season, Poturalski led the league with 73 points in 59 games to lead the Barracuda to their best record and first Calder Cup Playoff appearance since 2019. He also ranked second in the AHL only to teammate Danil Gushchin with 13 power-play goals as San Jose finished with a league-best 24.0 percent efficiency with the man advantage. San Jose was 31-19-5-4 (.602) with Poturalski in the lineup – compared to 5-8-0-0 (.385) without him – as well as 24-10-4-3 (.671) in games when he registered at least one point.
A native of Williamsville, N.Y., Poturalski was voted a First Team AHL All-Star in 2024-25, his fourth career postseason AHL All-Star selection. In 527 career AHL regular-season games with San Jose, Coachella Valley, Chicago, San Diego and Charlotte, he has compiled 161 goals and 332 assists for 493 points, and he has added 26 goals and 47 assists for 73 points in 81 postseason contests. Poturalski has also recorded three assists in nine career NHL games, including one assist in three appearances with the San Jose Sharks this season.
The AHL’s most valuable player award honors the late Les Cunningham, a member of the AHL Hall of Fame who was a five-time league All-Star and three-time Calder Cup champion with the Cleveland Barons. Previous winners of the award include Carl Liscombe (1948, ’49), Johnny Bower (1956, ’57, ’58), Fred Glover (1960, ’62, ’64), Art Stratton (1965, ’74), Dick Gamble (1996), Mike Nykoluk (1967), Dave Creighton (1968), Gilles Villemure (1969, ’70), Doug Gibson (1975, ’77), Pelle Lindbergh (1981), Paul Gardner (1985, ’86), Tim Tookey (1987), Jody Gage (1988), John Anderson (1992), Don Biggs (1993), Brad Smyth (1996), Derek Armstrong (2001), Jason Spezza (2005), Keith Aucoin (2010), Tyler Johnson (2013), Travis Morin (2014), Chris Bourque (2016), Gerry Mayhew (2020), T.J. Tynan (2021, ’22), Dustin Wolf (2023) and Mavrik Bourque (2024).
In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
