Penguins forward prospect Filip Hallander signs in Sweden
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After moving from his native Sweden to North America in the 2021 offseason, Filip Hallander thought the opportunity to become a full-time NHL player was ripe for him.
“I’m here to take a spot,” Hallander said during a prospect development camp that would lead into a team-wide training camp in September 2021. “Just to take a spot. I’m coming here to play, of course, in North America. I’m not going back to Sweden. If you’re going to be in the main (training) camp, you need to have the mindset of taking a spot.”
Less than two years later, Hallander has returned to Sweden.
On Friday, Hallander signed a five-year contract with Timra HK of the Swedish Hockey League.
That team announced the transaction via a release.
Hallander (6-foot-1, 196 pounds) is a pending restricted free agent this upcoming offseason with regard to his NHL rights.
The 22-year-old left-hander appeared in two NHL games last season and did not record a point while averaging 9:58 of ice time per contest. With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2022-23, Hallander appeared in 43 games and scored 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists).
Including an NHL contest he suited up for in the 2021-22 season, Hallander totaled all of three games with the Pittsburgh Penguins over two seasons.
That limited opportunity at the NHL level appeared to be a significant consideration in Hallander’s decision to return to Sweden, at least based on the rough translation of an interview he had with Swedish outlet Hockeypuls.
“It has been governed by how it went over there, of course,” Hallander said. “If I had been allowed to play even more in the NHL and had a great chance at it, then maybe I would have stayed.”
Hallander also cited his family as the primary consideration for his decision.
“We wanted a slightly more stable everyday life,” Hallander said to Hockeypuls. “There has been a lot in the last two years with travel and such. We felt that we want to be able to be all together, as a family, and spend every day together.”
Hallander and his wife, Alva, are parents to 1-1/2-year-old son Colin.
The departure of Hallander, projected as a defensive-minded bottom-six forward and a penalty killer, deprives the Penguins of one of the top future assets in a very shallow pool of prospects.
A second-round pick (No. 58 overall) in 2018, Hallander was traded by the Penguins under former general manager Jim Rutherford in August 2020 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a transaction that brought forward Kasperi Kapanen to Pittsburgh.
Rutherford’s successor, Ron Hextall, reacquired Hallander in July 2021 in a trade — primarily motivated in cutting salary — that sent forward Jared McCann to the Maple Leafs. Ultimately, McCann was selected by the Seattle Kraken in that offseason’s expansion draft. This past season, McCann scored a team-best 70 points (40 goals, 30 assists) in 79 games and helped the Kraken reach the postseason for the first time in franchise history.
The Penguins — who are still looking for a replacement to Hextall after he was fired April 14 — could retain Hallander’s NHL rights by extending a qualifying offer to him this offseason.
Hallander played three professional seasons with Timra as a teenager after developing with that franchise’s youth teams.
Hallander’s exit closes the door in some respect to another disappointing draft class for the Penguins.
All four players the Penguins drafted in 2018 are no longer with the organization.
• Defenseman Calen Addison (second round — No. 53 overall) was traded to the Minnesota Wild in February 2020 as part of a deal that brought forward Jason Zucker to the Penguins.
• Forward Justin Almeida (fifth round — No. 129 overall) predominantly played with the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers in three years with the organization and was not re-signed following the 2021-22 season. He is currently out of professional hockey.
• Forward Liam Gorman (sixth-round — No. 177 overall) had his NHL rights traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in July 2022 for a sixth-round pick in that year’s draft. The Penguins drafted defenseman Nolan Collins (No. 167 overall) with that selection.