I’ve devoted some recent articles to up-and-comers who could earn regular duty with the Penguins’ this season before all is said and done. Promising prospects such as Harrison Brunicke and Tristan Broz, who, unfortunately, may get stacked up behind a veritable logjam of veterans.
Other Rick reminded me of a third member of the BPC (Blocked Prospects Club)…Filip Hållander.
The Pens’ second-round pick (58th overall) in 2018, the 25-year-old forward is a Last of the Mohicans of sorts, a rare prospect selected during the Jim Rutherford Era still with the club. Since then, Hållander’s bounced around a bit, to put it mildly. First, to Toronto (and Kyle Dubas) as part of the return for Kasperi Kapanen and back again in an ill-fated doozy of a deal for emerging sniper Jared McCann.
A confident chap despite some ordinary box cars with the Baby Pens, Hållander publicly proclaimed his intent to make the team out of training camp in 2022. Shipped back to Wilkes instead, he responded with a solid 11 goals and 33 points in 43 games.
Unfortunately, opportunities with the Pens were rare if not downright non-existent. Over two seasons, the 6’1” 190-pounder appeared in just three NHL games while averaging a meager 8:36 of ice time. A classic case of the “Sully Treatment” if there ever was one.
Frustrated by the lack of opportunities to gain traction, Hållander pulled up stakes and returned to his native Sweden in the summer of ’23. Skating for his original club, Timra IK of the Swedish Hockey League, he again posted decent if unspectacular numbers.
Then came ’24-25 and an unprecedented offensive surge. In 51 games with Timra, Hållander piled up an astonishing 26 goals and 53 points, second-best in the league and a whopping 17 points higher than his previous career best. In the process, eclipsing the club mark for most points in a season set by former Red Wings great Henrik Zetterberg.
Suddenly a hot commodity, Dubas wasted little time in luring Hållander back across the pond, inking him to a two-year deal with an AAV of $775K. Given where the Pens are on the retool/rebuild scale and their need for young, emerging players, a no-brainer.
It’s a one-way contract, so the Pens would need to expose their new/old prospect to waivers before assigning him to the Baby Pens.
As for the player himself? Hållander is in many ways your typical Swede not named Erik Karlsson, which is to say he’s a responsible, reliable, two-way performer.
According to Elite Prospects, “…he works hard and forechecks and backchecks impressively. Shoots and passes the puck equally well. Smart in all three zones and a good team player.”
Draftin Europe adds “…his competitiveness and the way he attacks the net make him a dangerous player in the offensive zone.”
Top-end speed isn’t among Filip’s strengths, which is likely why Mike Sullivan gave him no more than a passing glance. However, as players such as Mark Stone have demonstrated, you don’t necessarily need to skate 90 mph to be effective.
On a personal note, I thought Hållander was somewhat non-descript during his exceedingly brief cameos, a guy who was just kind of feeling his way along. Again, with the qualifier that he barely touched the ice.
It would be interesting to see what he could do with a real opportunity to display his wares.
Let’s hope he receives one.
Penguins Math
I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that if you add the uniform numbers of Michel Briere (21) and Mario Lemieux (66), it equals Sidney Crosby’s (87).
It sure makes you wonder if things are eerily predestined in the grand scheme, doesn’t it?
Just as strange is the peculiar connection that existed between Lemieux and Marc Boileau, the team’s first French-Canadian coach. Nicknamed “Popeye” for his fiery nature, Boileau piloted the Pens for parts of three seasons in the mid-‘70s—and won 66 games.
On the evening of December 27, 2000, the former Penguins skipper passed away from a heart attack—the night of Mario’s triumphant return following his three-and-a-half year retirement.
