Penguins forward prospect Filip Hallander suffers potentially serious injury
Share this post:
Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect Filip Hallander suffered a serious but still undisclosed injury on Friday while playing for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.
In the late stages of a home game against the Charlotte Checkers at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Hallander was checked into the left corner boards of the Checkers’ zone and fell to the ice awkwardly. Almost immediately, teammates began to signal for medical assistance.
Hallander eventually left the ice on a stretcher and the remainder of the game was canceled — there was 1:12 left in regulation — with the Checkers being credited with a 4-2 win.
There was no immediate word on Hallander’s status. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ postgame media availability was canceled in the wake of Hallander’s injury. Per a release from the team, an update on Hallander would be provided as soon as possible.
A native of Sweden, Hallander, 22, is one of the top prospects in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ organization. Selected in the second round (No. 58 overall) of the 2018 draft, Hallander is in his second professional season in North America.
This season, he was recalled to the NHL roster Nov. 8 and appeared in two games with no points and an average ice time of 9:58 per contest.
Hallander, who scored the first goal of Friday’s game, is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s third-leading scorer this season with 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 26 games.
While he is scoring at nearly a point-per-game pace at the AHL level this season, Hallander has stated he sees being a defensive player as his route to becoming a steady NHLer.
“You always can do kind of the basic stuff,” Hallander said in November. “I take big pride in doing that. Hard work, wall battles, all that stuff, I think you can get very far in your career in being very good at that and being trustworthy in those areas. And the (penalty kill), you can have a pretty good NHL career in that. Of course, when you (play for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), you get a bit more offensive chances. Just trying to work on that and develop a more all-around game.
“Up here, it’s being hard on the puck, being good on the wall, being good on the forecheck, and I try to be trustworthy when I’m on the ice.”
Goaltender Taylor Gauthier recorded the loss on Friday after making 30 saves on 34 shots for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (15-10-3-2).
The Penguins’ next scheduled game is a home contest against the Hartford Wolf Pack at 6:05 p.m. Saturday.