Edmonton Oilers complete interesting trade with Pittsburgh Penguins
The Edmonton Oilers have made a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After rumours crept up last weekend that GM Stan Bowman was working the phones looking to swap a defenceman for a forward, the team finally pulled the trigger on a move on Wednesday morning.
The team announced that they had traded defenceman Spencer Stastney to the Penguins in exchange for 26-year-old forward Filip HĂ„llander. This marks the end of a short Edmonton tenure for Stastney, who was initially acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators last season.
Edmonton inked Stastney to a one-year contract extension back in July.
HĂ„llander has enjoyed a decent start to the season, notching a goal and three points while going +4 in just two games with the Penguins this season.
TRADE đ The #Oilers have acquired forward Filip Hallander from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenceman Spencer Stastney. pic.twitter.com/aKWKdvL8j7
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 7, 2026
Swapping out Stastney for HĂ„llander makes a lot of sense for the Oilers, as it relieves quite a logjam on defence for the club. Edmonton was carrying Stastney on the roster despite having players like Shakir Mukhamadullin and Ty Emberson above him on the depth chart. Meanwhile, injuries to the forward group have wreaked havoc.
While the Swedish forward may not solve all of Edmonton’s problems up front, he will be an interesting depth addition. His early-season success in Pittsburgh is also an encouraging indication that he may be able to get a decent opportunity to stick with the Oilers when the team gets healthy.
The six-foot-two, 207-pound forward was initially drafted in the second round of the 2018 NHL draft by the Penguins. He has jumped between the NHL and AHL for the past several seasons, and even had a two-year stint in Sweden between 2023 and 2025.
The most time he’s ever spent in the NHL was a 13-game stint with the Penguins last season, where he managed one goal and four points.
It’s a low-risk bet for the Oilers, who ship off a player in Stastney who was unlikely to get into many games and add a player in HĂ„llander who, at the very worst, winds up being a bottom-of-the-lineup guy that can be placed on waivers.
Edmonton also opens up a little bit of cap space in this deal, offloading Stastney’s $1.525 million cap hit in exchange for HĂ„llander’s $850,000 cap hit. The Swede is set to become a UFA next summer.
It remains to be seen whether or not HĂ„llander will be available for Edmonton’s game against the Anaheim Ducks, or if fans will need to wait until Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks to get a peek at him.