Penguins Recall Filip Hallander From Conditioning Loan
3/1: Pittsburgh has recalled Hallander from his conditioning loan. He scored one goal in three games with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Hallander will remain on injured reserve, but has been recalled to undergo evaluation and testing as he recovers from blood clots earlier in the season.
2/18: The Penguins announced Wednesday that they’ve assigned forward Filip Hallander to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning loan. Since Hållander is on standard injured reserve and not long-term injured reserve, the loan can last for up to two weeks for him to get back into game shape.
Hallander’s return to the ice comes more than three months after the 25-year-old was diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg. He was ruled out for at least three months at the time, so his pending return to game action in the minors roughly comes on schedule.
Hallander participated in NHL practice yesterday after the Penguins were eligible to reconvene, so it stands to reason his time in the AHL should be more game-focused than practice-focused since he’s already got one under his belt. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has three games on the schedule before Pittsburgh makes its post-Olympic debut on Feb. 26. One of them is against Springfield tonight, meaning Hallander is more likely to suit up at least once during their back-to-back against Bridgeport this weekend.
A second-round pick back in 2018, Hallander is already in his third stint in the Pittsburgh organization. He was traded to the Maple Leafs in 2020 for Kasperi Kapanen, only to be re-acquired the following summer in the Jared McCann deal. He then opted to return to Timrå IK in his native Sweden following the 2022-23 campaign, but the Pens retained his signing rights with a qualifying offer. After Hallander was named the SHL’s Forward of the Year in 2024-25, he activated the NHL out-clause in his deal with Timrå and returned to Pittsburgh on a two-year, league-minimum contract.
Hallander made Pittsburgh’s opening night roster and, after being a healthy scratch on opening night, got into 13 straight games before the blood clot took him out of the lineup. He recorded the first four points of his NHL career – a goal and three assists – with a +4 rating while averaging 13:09 of ice time per game. He slotted in at left wing up and down the lineup, as high as first-line duties with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust and as low as fourth-line reps with Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar.
The rookie had decent even-strength possession impacts and averaged about a minute per game on the penalty kill, but with Pittsburgh’s forward group fully healthy coming out of the break, it’s hard to see where he fits into the lineup. Egor Chinakhov was acquired from the Blue Jackets while Hallander was out and, with 12 points in 18 games, has solidified his spot alongside countryman Evgeni Malkin on the second line. Veteran Noel Acciari slots in with Lizotte and Dewar, and that trio has some of the best defensive metrics in the league. In all likelihood, he’ll serve as a versatile plug-and-play extra for the stretch run while allowing prospects like Avery Hayes and Rutger McGroarty more seasoning in the AHL.
East Notes: Penguins, Laine, Flyers
As teams return to practice today, some without notable members still competing in the Olympics, several updates have emerged. In Pittsburgh, Kris Letang told the media, including Michelle Crechiolo, Penguins team reporter, that he is nearing 100% from his lower body injury. It’s expected that he’ll be ready for February 26 against the Devils, but not yet certain.
The 38-year-old had to miss the club’s last four games going into the Olympic break. Letang had a rough start to his 20th season with Pittsburgh, leading to questions on his outlook. Since then, the stalwart has still played heavy minutes, 22:06 a night, just behind Erik Karlsson. His 50.5% corsi at even strength is a slight improvement from last season, but still a step below the norm. Currently +3 with 25 points in 50 games, Letang has turned the corner from last season’s -15, 30 point output.
Symbolic of the team’s rebound as a whole, Letang’s Penguins are closing in on ending their three year postseason drought, as they have the opportunity to go on what could be one last dance as an unforgettable era winds down.
Also in Pittsburgh, Filip Hallander returned to practice, as reported by Crechiolo. The forward hasn’t played since November, missing 42 games from a blood clot in his leg. At 25 years old, the former second round pick is just getting off the ground in his NHL career, with all four of his career points coming this season. The timing of his ailment was especially unfortunate, costing him a chance to play in his native Sweden in the Global Series.
Elsewhere across the conference:
- Canadiens winger Patrik Laine missed today’s practice due to a lower body injury, per the team. He is still working his way back from core muscle surgery, not having played since October. Noted as a likely trade candidate last week, Laine’s days in Montreal seem to be nearing an end, although his $8.7MM price tag will be difficult to work through. The 27-year-old former 40 goal scorer will be an intriguing free agent this summer, but unfortunately his health is a major factor. Laine hasn’t dressed in more than 68 games in a campaign since 2018-19. His Habs return to action February 26 against the Islanders.
- Along with goaltender Carson Bjarnason, who was recalled earlier today, Flyers prospects Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald will join the team for practice this week, according to Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Bonk, a first round selection in 2023, made a case to make the team right out of the OHL but was injured in camp. Finally activated in early December, he has just six points in 22 games, indicative that seasoning is needed for the team’s top blueliner prospect, who has second pairing potential. On the other hand, McDonald, a former sixth round pick, has a more limited upside at the highest level but at 6’4” he brings serious physicality. Both defenseman are awaiting their NHL debut.
Pittsburgh Penguins Activate Kevin Hayes
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they’ve activated veteran forward Kevin Hayes from the injured reserve. In a corresponding roster move, the team has placed Filip Hallander on the IR, who was diagnosed with a blood clot yesterday.
It’s been nearly seven months since Hayes last skated in an NHL contest. The 11-year veteran has been dealing with an upper-body injury since training camp, and initially garnered an expected return date in mid-October. Obviously, the injury kept him out a few weeks past the scheduled recovery timeline.
The belief is that Hayes will return to a familiar role this evening, centering Pittsburgh’s third line between Ville Koivunen and one other forward, given that Philip Tomasino has been scratched from the lineup. That spot was held by recently recalled Danton Heinen for the team’s last contest, who went scoreless while earning a -1 rating.
At his best, Hayes is a quality second-line center who’s two years removed from scoring 18 goals and 54 points with the Philadelphia Flyers, along with earning a spot in the All-Star Game. Unfortunately, Hayes has failed to match his 2022-23 scoring output in two years split between the St. Louis Blues and the Penguins. Over that stretch, he’s registered 26 goals and 52 points in 143 games with a -15 rating, averaging 13:23 of ice time per game.
Still, although his defensive metrics took a hit during his first year in Pittsburgh, Hayes is a capable third-line middleman with the capacity to average a 55.0% success rate in the faceoff dot. Further, he deepens the unexpectedly competitive Penguins down the middle behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Meanwhile, as noted yesterday, it’ll be some time before Hallander returns to the Penguins roster. Given the seriousness of the ailment, Hallander is expected to miss the next three months, which would position him for a return in early February. The 25-year-old former second-round pick scored one goal and four points through his first 13 games this season.
Penguins’ Filip Hallander Diagnosed With Blood Clot
Penguins forward Filip Hallander has been diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg, the team announced. He’ll be sidelined for a minimum of three months. He will undergo rehabilitation in Pittsburgh, in conjunction with the team’s medical staff and doctors from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Hallander has only been out of action for two days. He played against the Maple Leafs on Monday and practiced on Wednesday, but left the session early, according to Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Head coach Dan Muse then said, before yesterday’s win over the Capitals, that he was day-to-day with an undisclosed issue, presumably a cover while he was undergoing diagnostic testing.
Even in the best-case scenario, Hallander will be out of action until after the Olympic break. After serving as a healthy scratch in the season opener, Hallander had made 13 consecutive appearances until being diagnosed with the clot. He had scored one goal with three assists for four points with a +4 rating while averaging 13:09 of ice time per game. A second-round pick back in 2018, Hallander was kicking off his second stint with the Pens after spending the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons with Timrå IK in his native Sweden. He previously split the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns between Pittsburgh and AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, racking up his first three career NHL appearances during that time.
Now 25, Hallander’s NHL return was spurred by a dominant showing for Timrå last season. His 26 goals and 53 points in 51 games led the club and earned him Swedish Hockey League Forward of the Year honors. Hallander signed a five-year deal with Timrå upon his return to Sweden in 2023, but subsequently terminated that contract to facilitate a return to Pittsburgh. He signed a two-year, one-way deal worth $1.55MM in April and made the opening night roster for the first time in the fall.
Hallander had been shuffled up and down the lineup to begin the season. He spent a good chunk of his ice time at 5-on-5 up on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust, but also saw significant third-line deployment alongside Thomas Novak and some fourth-line duties as well. A bit of a Swiss Army knife who can play both center and left wing, they’ll miss his versatility – especially at a time when they’re already missing lineup regulars Noel Acciari, Justin Brazeau, Kevin Hayes, and Rickard Rakell in addition to top prospect Rutger McGroarty.
Snapshots: Stolarz, Hallander, Jedlicka
The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t get any goaltending relief after a brutal 6-1 loss in Game 5. Head coach Craig Berube told the media that starter Anthony Stolarz is doubtful to travel to Game 6 on Friday, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic. Stolarz skated at the team’s morning practice, but exited the ice after more than 30 minutes. Stolarz’s injury hasn’t been technically specified, though it seems clear it’s a head injury after he received multiple headshots and was seen throwing up during Game 1 of the second round.
Stolarz has been Toronto’s rock for much of the season. He posted a .926 save percentage and a 21-8-3 record during the regular season – the highest save percentage and fourth-highest win percentage from a Leafs starter since 2000. Toronto’s backup, Joseph Woll, hasn’t matched Stolarz’s shutdown presence when healthy. Woll posted a .909 save percentage and 27-14-1 record in 42 games this season, earning the lion’s share of minutes while Stolarz battled injuries. Woll’s save percentage has dipped to .877 in five postseason appearances. He allowed six goals in his latest outing, which could be enough for Toronto to award veteran backup Matt Murray with just his second playoff start since the 2019-20 season. Murray posted a .934 save percentage in 21 AHL games this season.
Other notes from around the league:
- Penguins forward prospect Filip Hallander was named the SHL’s Forward of the Year this season, the league announced on Thursday. He scored a career-high 26 goals and 53 points in 51 games this season, good for second in the league in total points behind David Tomasek‘s 57 points in 47 games. Hallander signed a two-year contract with Pittsburgh at the tail-end of the SHL season, cementing his return to North America after spending the last two seasons in Sweden. He scored 61 points in 104 AHL games between 2021 and 2023, and added three scoreless NHL appearances. Hallander can now use the momentum from this award-winning season to notch his first NHL points next season.
- After an injury-plagued season, it doesn’t appear the Avalanche will retain the signing rights to 2023 seventh-round pick Maros Jedlicka, relays Brennan Vogt of Mile High Sports. The 22-year-old Slovak forward spent the latter half of this season on a minor-league deal with AHL Colorado but was limited to five points in 18 games. He missed all of the 2023-24 season due to injury and managed just 12 appearances for HC Kometa Brno in Czechia before terminating his contract there early this season.
Penguins Re-Sign Filip Hallander To Two-Year Deal
9:50 a.m.: The Penguins have confirmed Hallander’s two-year contract.
7:56 a.m.: After spurning his qualifying offer in 2023 to return home to Sweden, Filip Hallander has signed a two-year deal with the Penguins beginning next season, according to PuckPedia. It’s a one-way pact for the league minimum of $775K each season for a total value of $1.55MM.
So begins the 24-year-old center’s third stint in the Pittsburgh organization. Selected in the second round (No. 58 overall) of the 2018 draft, Hallander signed his entry-level contract shortly thereafter but spent his two slide years and the first year of the contract on loan to Timrå IK and Luleå HF of the Swedish Hockey League. During that time, he was traded to the Maple Leafs in August 2020 as part of the deal for Kasperi Kapanen. Still, he was reacquired the following summer when Toronto acquired Jared McCann from Pittsburgh, only to lose him to the Kraken in the expansion draft.
After the second trade, Hallander’s overseas loans ended. He played the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons stateside, suiting up mostly for AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but still seeing a trio of NHL games across the two campaigns. He didn’t record a point or a shot attempt but averaged 8:36 per game, recording three blocks and one hit. He put up a 25-36–61 scoring line in 104 AHL games across two seasons with a plus-four rating, including 33 points in only 43 games in 2022-23.
That was enough for the Penguins to want to keep Hallander, but the feeling wasn’t mutual at the time. Instead of signing a new deal with Pittsburgh upon expiry of his entry-level contract in 2023, he returned to Timrå, where he played his youth hockey, on a five-year commitment with an NHL out-clause. The Penguins still issued him a qualifying offer by the June 30 deadline despite Hallander signing the deal in April, retaining his exclusive NHL signing rights through 2027 as a result.
That decision paid dividends. Hallander was just named the Swedish Forward of the Year after a dominant campaign for Timrå, finishing second in the SHL with 26 goals and 53 points in 51 games. He was one of just two players to exceed the point-per-game mark this season at 1.04, trailing only newly signed Oilers forward David Tomasek‘s 1.21.
A one-way deal indicates the Penguins expect Hallander to seriously compete for an opening-night roster spot next fall. If he’s sent to the minors without much assurance of a call-up, though, expect Hallander to pursue a mutual contract termination (of course, if he’s not claimed on waivers and gets an NHL opportunity elsewhere). With only 10 other forwards signed to one-way deals for next year, though, there’s a clear path to a roster spot out of the gate. Hallander, who turns 25 in June, will be an unrestricted free agent when his new deal expires in 2027.
International Notes: Larionov, Hållander, Söderström
The KHL’s Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod will seek a new head coach for the 2025-26 season. Earlier this morning, the organization announced they had mutually terminated their agreement with NHL Hall of Famer Igor Larionov as the team’s head coach.
Larionov had a positive run in his first role as a head coach in the KHL. Hired before the 2022-23 season, he’ll end his tenure behind the bench with a 107-75-22 record in 204 contests, making it as far as the Western Conference semifinals in his first year at the helm.
His exploits in the NHL are well-known. Larionov and former teammate, Viacheslav Fetisov, were outspoken critics of the Soviet Union’s policies regarding the defection of athletes in the 1980s, and wouldn’t be allowed to play in the NHL until the 1989-90 season despite being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1985 NHL Draft.
After 921 games and 644 points, “the Professor” finished his NHL career at 43 years old after the 2003-04 season. He was an integral part of the famous “Russian Five” line deployed by the Detroit Red Wings and helped Detroit win three Stanley Cups in 1997, 1998, and 2002.
Other international notes:
- Former second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Filip Hållander, could return to the team for the 2025-26 season. After an impressive season with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2022-23, Hållander returned to his native Sweden to join the SHL’s Timrå IK. The organization recently announced that Hållander has departed the team after scoring 26 goals and 53 points in 51 contests, finishing second in the league in scoring.
- In an unconfirmed report from Jennifer Engstrom of Expressen, there is a growing belief that defenseman Victor Söderström will join the Chicago Blackhawks next year. Söderström has reportedly been in dialogue with the Blackhawks since the SHL playoffs started, having been acquired from the Utah Hockey Club in a salary dump trade involving Shea Weber‘s contract at the recent trade deadline. Söderström would be a massive addition to Chicago’s blue line, as he recently won the Salming Trophy as the SHL’s top defenseman, scoring nine goals and 37 points in 49 games for Brynäs IF.
Filip Hållander Signs Long-Term Deal In Sweden
Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Filip Hållander has signed a five-year contract with the SHL’s Timrå IK, the Swedish club announced Friday morning.
This is a striking and likely unexpected move for the Penguins organization. While it’s common to see players older in age opt to return to Europe after not developing into higher-end NHLers, Hållander is still just 22 years old and was a candidate to make the Penguins out of training camp next season.
Pittsburgh can still retain Hållander’s NHL rights by issuing him a qualifying offer this summer, as he’s a pending restricted free agent. At the conclusion of his new SHL contract in 2028, he would then have to sign with Pittsburgh if he wanted to return to the NHL.
Nevertheless, it’s a tough blow for an organization already low on talented prospects. Hållander was one of the organization’s best, especially at center, and took huge steps forward this season with 33 points in 44 games for the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Drafted 58th overall in 2018, Hållander was traded away and re-acquired in two separate transactions with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It does mark a homecoming for the Swedish forward, who was developed in Timrå’s system all the way from U16 play to his professional debut. During his draft year (2017-18), he played an important role in earning Timrå promotion from the second-tier Allsvenskan, notching 20 points in 40 games.
When Timrå failed to avoid relegation back to the Allsvenskan the next season, however, Pittsburgh loaned him to a different SHL club, Luleå HF, for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons before Hållander arrived in North America.
Filip Hallander Reassigned To AHL
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced forward Filip Hallander has been reassigned to the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins. It puts an end to a wild day for the young forward. Hallander was called up by the Penguins this morning and head coach Mike Sullivan said him and Dustin Tokarski, who was also recalled, would hopefully be arriving by game time.
Taylor Haase of DK Pittsburgh Sports later reported that both Jake Guentzel and Jason Zucker were game-time decisions for the Penguins game against the Dallas Stars. Both of them took warmup and were then in the lineup, so the team had no room for Hallander. His recall was a precaution in case one of the veteran wingers was not able to play tonight.
Tokarski did not take part in the warmup and Rob Rossi of The Athletic reported he was yet to arrive in Dallas as of game time. This means Hallander was reassigned before he ever joined the team today as he would have been travelling with Tokarski.
Hallander, a 22-year-old forward, has spent most of the season in the AHL. He has played 40 games with Wilkes Barre/Scranton and scored 11 goals and 33 points. He has already played two NHL games with the Penguins this season, and one more in 2021-22, but is yet to register his first NHL point.
Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Dustin Tokarski, Filip Hallander
With the Pittsburgh Penguins barely holding onto a playoff position, the last thing fans want to see are emergency recalls. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what they received today, as the Penguins announced the call-up of Dustin Tokarski and Filip Hallander from the AHL on an emergency basis.
Shelly Anderson of Pittsburgh Hockey Now reports that head coach Mike Sullivan will speak with the media two hours before tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars.
Pittsburgh is coming off a massive win against the Colorado Avalanche last night, stopping a four-game losing streak that threatened the team’s playoff hopes. With a one-point lead on the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference wild card race, every game seems like a must-win for the Penguins these days.
Casey DeSmith, who is dealing with an illness, was healthy enough to serve as the backup last night, but Tokarski’s recall suggests that Tristan Jarry may have to play back-to-back games, unless there is another injury that has popped up in the hours since leaving Denver.
The minor league veteran does have a .917 save percentage in 29 appearances with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this year but posted an .897 in four games with Pittsburgh earlier. With so much importance attached to every game at this point, it would be a disappointing outcome to see Tokarski have to carry the load tonight in Dallas.