The Oilers didn’t go hunting for a splashy name when they moved to add Filip Hallander. They went after a player with a thin NHL résumé, some real offensive curiosity, and enough versatility to make the bet worthwhile. That’s the shape of this deal: Edmonton sent Spencer Stastney to the Pittsburgh Penguins and brought back Hallander, a forward listed as a center who has barely lined up there in the NHL.
On paper, it’s a bottom-six boost with a little extra pop. In practice, it’s a swing on a player whose NHL sample is still tiny.
Hallander is 26, stands 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds, shoots left, and has already bounced through a few stops since Pittsburgh drafted him in the second round in 2018. Toronto got him in 2020, Pittsburgh got him back in 2021, and he made his NHL debut in 2021-22.
Across 18 NHL games over four seasons, he has two goals and five assists while averaging 12:04 of ice time.
The Oilers are clearly banking on something more than that record. Hallander has a goal, two assists and a +4 rating in two games with Pittsburgh this season, and most of his North American work has come in the AHL, where he put up 26 goals and 36 assists for 62 points and 44 penalty minutes in 107 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
His strongest stretch, though, came in Sweden. Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer noted that Hallander finished second in Swedish Hockey League scoring with Timrå in 2024-25, producing 26 goals and 27 assists for 53 points in 51 games.
There’s a familiar feel to the profile. Hallander was described in his draft year as a two-way forward with capable skating, and the scouting pitch still sounds a lot like the kind of player Edmonton likes to bet on: hardworking, useful in both directions, and able to shoot and pass.
He’s a 200-foot player. Sound like anyone?
The comparison is to Vasily Podkolzin, though Hallander is not being sold as that kind of home-run add. Still, the idea is the same: find a player with a little offensive juice, some defensive responsibility, and enough room to grow that the upside outweighs the uncertainty.
This move also lines up with the kind of player Edmonton had been connected to before Hallander emerged. Kirby Dach was one of the names heavily linked to the Oilers, and Matt Poitras of the Boston Bruins was another.
Darren Dreger had described the target earlier this week on The Nielson Show without naming him, saying it was a young center with upside who was still “trying to prove his NHL value.” Dreger also said Edmonton had been talking about the move for several weeks and had been viewed as the front-runner in discussions.
There are still questions here, and not small ones. Jason Gregor pointed out that Hallander is not really a natural center and has a poor faceoff record.
He has barely played the position in the NHL. Even so, Gregor added, “He returned to PIT this year and has 1-2-3 in two games.
Could be a late bloomer. Depth forward for a depth D-man.”
That’s the trade in a nutshell. Edmonton dealt from its blue-line surplus, picked up a forward with multiple possible uses, and took a shot at a player who may still be climbing. Stauffer also said the move saves the Oilers more than $650,000 in cap space.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, moved a player Josh Yohe of The Athletic said the Penguins valued. Yohe wrote, “I’m surprised that Hallander was the forward the Penguins decided to move.
They love him. But remember, the other team has a say in this kind of thing also, and I can see why Hallander is a player the Oilers would like.
The forward logjam was getting a little ridiculous.” He also said, “Personally I love Hallander and would have had a hard time moving him.
But I am not the general manager.”
For Edmonton, that’s the whole calculation: a modest risk, a modest cost, and the possibility that a player with a limited NHL history finally starts turning the tools into something real.
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