SAN JOSE — Filip Hallander (pronounced HAUL-and-er) hails from Sundsvall, Sweden, the gulf town of roughly 75,000 that gave the hockey world such names as Henrik Zetterberg, Fredrik Modin and Vancouver centreman Elias Pettersson.
Hallander arrived at Edmonton Oilers practice and skated on a regular line Friday, looking forward to a new start in a new town with a new team.
“Great team, great players, great city, great fans,” the 26-year-old said of Edmonton, after a spirited practice on the left side of centre Jason Dickinson and Kasperi Kapanen. “It’s the whole package, coming to a team that wants to win. (He is) just happy about the chance to be part of this group.”
There are injuries, but then there are circumstances like what Hallander went through last season. He played 13 games for the Penguins, took a puck in the leg, and doctors found a blood clot. They shut him down for the season.
“It was a tough year, but a good year too,” he said. “I was able to do everything except contact on the ice. So it was like an off-season for 11 months.
“I came back stronger, both mentally and physically. You get a lot of resilience going through something like that, and have a bigger appreciation for the game.”
Oilers fans should be realistic about this trade. GM Stan Bowman traded an eighth defenceman (Spencer Stastney) that he was going to put on waivers, and brought in Hallander, who was headed for waivers in Pittsburgh.
On the other hand, all of Bowman’s best trades have been the smaller ones. Think Vasily Podkolzin for a fourth-round pick from Vancouver, and perhaps the Hallander trade could work out better than first thought.
Why has his career not really taken a step yet?
“Not being healthy enough, that's like the main part. I haven't played,” Hallander said. “The games I have played, I've shown I can chip in on offence. But truly, I just want to be good defensively, a PK guy, and hopefully be reliable in both ends. I want to be as versatile as you can be. Like, put me anywhere in the lineup, and I'll do the work.”
Line ‘em up
Zach Hyman does not appear ready to play Saturday in San Jose, despite practising with the team Friday. Hallander, however, skated on a line that looks like it could remain intact.
Tristan Jarry gets the start in goal, but we are doubting that Shakir Mukhamadullin gets the start against his former team. On San Jose’s side, Macklin Celebrini is veeery close to playing — "There's always a chance," he said — but is said to be a game-time decision.
Here is how Edmonton set up at Friday’s practice:
Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl
Hallander-Dickinson-Kapanen/Hyman
Formenton-Michaels-Joseph
Frederic/Jones-Samanski-Howard
Ekholm-Bouchard
Shea-Murphy
Walman-Emberson
Jarry
Levi
Babs gabs
The more time we spend around Mike Babcock, the more insight we get into his approach to the job in Edmonton.
It’s not just another team he’s taking over here. Some club that’s played poorly, got its coach fired, and needs to become a playoff team so ownership can make some money and the team can become relevant again. This is a Stanley Cup-calibre team — with the greatest player in the game on a two-year contract — that Babcock is trying to overhaul on the fly.
So, you can’t freak out when the penalty kill gives up a couple of goals, and he won’t get too cocky over two straight games without allowing an even-strength goal.
“Let's be fair,” opened Babcock after practice. “In the first period (in Anaheim), they could have got a bunch, and we got good goaltending. We weren't very good.
“I like to think the direction we're going, we're going to be hard to score against. But right now we still make lots of mistakes, and we expect to. We'd rather make mistakes out of aggression than sitting back.”
It’s not ideal to get stomped in Period 1 the way the Oilers did in Anaheim, with a Ducks power play that looked like the Harlem Globetrotters against your penalty killers. But when you win the final 40 minutes and walk out the building with a 5-2 win, the lessons are more easily learned.
“In hindsight, if you could have drawn it up and you knew (the comeback) was going to happen, it's great. But normally, when you give the other team a cushion, you're never coming back in this league,” Babcock said. “I really liked our pushback. (The second period in Anaheim) was our best forechecking period of the year. We played heavy hockey instead of rush hockey, and in the end, we took that period over.”
You can’t quit on yourself or the new plan when all the new plans don’t work right away. We’re only four games in here, remember.
“When you're trying to play the way we are, you make mistakes,” Babcock said. “Then everyone goes to the system. ‘Whoa, does this system work?’
“Let's just continue to be aggressive. Let's do things right, and those will all go away. But if you start second-guessing, and everyone's questioning, and we stand still, it goes in your net all … year … long. So it might take us some time.”
