5 Things to Know About New Oilers Forward Filip Hallander

On Wednesday (Oct. 7), the Edmonton Oilers acquired forward Filip Hallander from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenceman Spencer Stastney.

A native of Sundsvall, Sweden, Hallander has appeared in 18 games over parts of four seasons with the Penguins. The 26-year-old is in the final season of a two-year contract with an average annual value of $812,500 and set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

He’s 26, stands 6-foot-2, weights 207 pounds, and shoots left. Here are five other things to know about the Oilers’ new acquisition.

He Was Drafted in the Second Round

After some wheeling and dealing, Hallander was selected by the Penguins in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft. Pittsburgh traded the 64^th and 146^th overall picks to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for the 58^th pick, which it then used to draft the Timra IK forward.

After totalling 20 points over 40 games in the Allsvenskan, the second division of Swedish pro hockey, in 2017-18, Hallander appeared at No. 13 on NHL Central Scouting’s Final Ranking of European Skaters.

On July 15, 2018, just over three weeks after being drafted, Hallander signed with Pittsburgh to a three-year entry-level contract.

He’s Competed on the World Stage

Hallander has represented his country many times, including at many of the most significant events in international hockey.

He was part of Sweden’s gold-medal winning team at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in 2016 and captured bronze with Sweden’s Under-18 team at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.

Hallander appeared in all five of Sweden’s games at the 2019 World Junior Championship, which was co-hosted by Vancouver and Victoria, B.C. He then made his World Championship debut in 2021, at age 20.

He Was Briefly a Maple Leaf

On Aug. 25, 2020, Hallander was dealt by Pittsburgh to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The trade also saw David Warsofsky, Evan Rodrigues and a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft go from the Penguins to Toronto in exchange for Pontus Aberg, Kasperi Kapanen (who is now also a member of the Oilers) and Jesper Lindgren.

At the time, Hallander was playing for Lulea HF in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), the country’s top division. He remained with Lulea HF for the 2020-21 season, notching 24 points in 50 games.

Then, on July 17, 2021, less than 11 months after he’d been traded to the Maple Leafs, Hallander was dealt back to Pittsburgh, packaged with a 2023 seventh-round pick in exchange for forward Jared McCann.

He Was SHL Forward of the Year

Hallander’s first two years of pro hockey in North America were spent largely with Pittsburgh’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. In 2021-22, he appeared in 61 games for Wilkes-Barre and just one with Pittsburgh. The next season, 2022-23, he suited up for 43 AHL games and played in only two NHL contests.

As a restricted free-agent, Hallander elected to return home, signing a five-year contract with Timra IK on April 28, 2023. He was named 2024-25 SHL Forward of the Year after ranking second in the league with 26 goals and setting a franchise single-season record with 53 points, three more than the previous mark held by Detroit Red Wings legend Henrik Zetterberg.

Riding the momentum of his breakout season, Hallander decided to take another crack at the NHL and signed with the Penguins on April 29, 2025, after exercising an out clause on his contract with Timra IK.

His First NHL Goal Was Historic

Hallander made Pittsburgh’s opening-night lineup for the 2025-26 season. A week later, on Oct. 16, 2025, he scored for the first time in his NHL career, notching the deciding goal while shorthanded in a 4-2 road victory over the Los Angeles Kings. He is one of just 12 players in NHL history whose first career goal was both shorthanded and the game-winner.

Unfortunately for Hallander, after just 13 games last season, he was diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg, and he didn’t suit up for Pittsburgh again in 2025-26. The forward made an explosive return to Pittsburgh’s lineup this fall, notching three points and a plus-four rating as the Penguins opened their schedule with a 7-0 defeat of the Philadelphia Flyers on Sept. 30. Only a week later, he was dealt to Edmonton.

Hallander joins an Oilers team that is off to a terrific start, sitting second in the Western Conference overall standings with 7 points from a record of 3-0-1. He could potentially be in the lineup with his new teammates when Edmonton goes for its fourth straight win, Saturday (Oct. 10) against the host San Jose Sharks.