Hallander’s Career Was In Jeopardy; Now He’s ‘Motivated … Hungry’

Every player in the Pittsburgh Penguins training camp at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex has a story, and every player has expectations and aspirations. Forward Filip Hallander made a claim Friday that seems believable when you consider his circumstance.

“I think I have something that a lot of people don’t have – I was close to getting everything, this, taken away from me,” Hallander said. “I feel happy being out there every time. No one is motivated and hungry more than me.”

Perhaps Penguins fans forgot about Hallander. After all, he played in 13 games with the team last season in October and early November, picking up his first career goal and a few assists, after a couple cups of coffee in the NHL in 2021-22 and ’22-23. Then he disappeared.

It wasn’t a knee injury or shoulder problem. Hallander got hit in the leg with a puck, and a couple days later doctors diagnosed him with a blood clot that apparently eventually traveled to his lung.

He continued to train and work out before being deemed ready for a conditioning stint in AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in February.

“I had a setback there after a week there. We made the decision to shut it down for the season,” Hallander said. “That was probably the hardest part, but in the end it’s all worked out.”

But not before some soul-searching and wondering if he would ever play again.

“In February, a couple of weeks after (the setback) happened, I was talking to some friends that were in coaching, just looking at options to do after (my playing career),” he said, even though he was able to continue to work out.

Now, a month or so after being cleared for contact, participating fully in camp practices and much better informed about the dangers of blood clots, he’s ready to get his playing career back on track.

“I didn’t know that much about (blood clots) before it happened,” Hallander said. “It’s been a long 10 months since November, since it happened, but I think something good has come out of it in the end. You learn a lot from it.

“Now you have a bit more gratitude to be out there.”

Hallander, 26, has taken a circuitous route to this point, the time off because of the blood clot being the latest part of the journey. He was drafted by the Penguins in the second round in 2018, got traded to Toronto, got reacquired, returned to Sweden to play for two seasons, then seemed on the verge of establishing himself in the NHL before that puck to the leg set him back.

While having a clot in your lung can be life-threatening and can be excruciating, Hallander had no symptoms. So he was blocked from full participation in hockey and waiting periodic tests results for something that he couldn’t physically point to.

“It’s hard because if you have an injury that you rehab – a knee or a shoulder – you feel fully good to go, almost better than you did before,” he said. “That’s kind of the mental phase. You feel normal, but at the same time you’re not. That’s probably the hardest thing to deal with because it’s so different than any other type of injury.”

He spent some of the offseason back in his native Sweden before returning to Pittsburgh.

“Even though I’ve been here for a month and doing those skates before (camp), it’s not fully intense with hits before camp starts,” he said. “The first half (Thursday) was not a shock, but it was good to get going a little bit. It was good to get hit again.”

Given the glut of forwards in Penguins camp, Hallander is certainly not a lock to make the NHL roster to start the season. He skated Thursday with prospects Tristan Broz and Avery Hayes, and Friday with Justin Brazeau and Hendrix Lapierre.

After what he’s been through, Hallander can only move forward and hope to win the numbers game.

“I think I can do all the stuff I did before I got here,” he said. “I think I’ve never been in better shape than I am right now. I’ve been able to work out for 10 months with no issues at all. I feel stronger, faster.”

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