The Edmonton Oilers have acquired forward Filip Hallander from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenceman Spencer Stastney, the club announced Wednesday.

The Oilers had reportedly been looking at making a “lateral trade,” hoping to add some forward depth while moving off a defenceman to address a logjam at the position. In doing so, the Oilers bring in a 26-year-old Hallander who has yet to find his way in the NHL.

Drafted by the Penguins in the second round of the 2018 draft, Hallander, who stands at six-foot-two and weighs 207 lbs., has played in just 18 NHL games, including two this season in which he has a goal and three points. The winger has bounced between North America and Sweden since being drafted, having initially stayed in his home country after being drafted.

His first season west of the Atlantic came in 2021-22, when he scored 14 goals and 28 points in 61 games with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate, adding another 11 goals and 33 points in 43 games in 2022-23. Hallander then returned to Sweden, playing two years for the SHL’s Timra IK, scoring 40 goals and 89 points in 102 games.

Hallander, who is in the final year of a two-year deal paying him $850,000, was limited to only 16 pro games last year due to a blood clot in his leg.

This trade marks the third time Hallander has been involved in a Penguins trade. In August 2020, he was sent traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with Evan Rodrigues, David Warofsky and a first-round pick for Kasperi Kapanen, Jesper Lindgren and Pontus Aberg. He was reacquired by the Penguins in July 2021 alongside a seventh-round pick from Toronto in exchange for Jared McCann.

Stastney, 26, was acquired by the Oilers last December from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick. He appeared in 36 games for the team last year, scoring one goal and averaging just over 16 minutes per night.

The Oilers had entered the season with eight defencemen on waivers-eligible contracts, and it was clear the team would look to trade one, rather than risk losing them on waivers. In flipping Stastney for Hallander, the Oilers do that, and in the process, clear up $675,000 in cap space.

According to PuckPedia, the Oilers now have a roster $3,000 short of the $104-million salary cap. With Matt Savoie and Alec Regula still on the LTIR, the team isn’t accruing cap space, but the Oilers can now activate them without needing to clear cap space. Alternatively, PuckPedia reported, the team could send one player down to the AHL and begin acruing cap space.

Zach Laing is the managing editor at Daily Faceoff Edmonton and news director at The Nation Network. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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