Penguins trade Filip Hallander to Oilers for Spencer Stastney

The Penguins traded forward Filip Hallander to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday for defenseman Spencer Stastney, a swap that eased a crowded forward group by adding depth on defense. Penguins trade Flip Hallander to Oilers for Spencer Stastney. 

Hallander, 26, had played two games this season with a goal and two assists. Stastney, also 26, joins Pittsburgh to compete for ice time on the blue line.

Assistant general manager Jason Spezza explained the move in emailed comments Wednesday afternoon. He said the team needed to clear space because of its depth at forward, and that based on past performance and future potential, Hallander was the player it determined was expendable.

Spezza said the decision was not a knock on Hallander's ability.

The timing behind the trade

The timing traced directly to the roster. The Penguins activated winger Bryan Rust on Wednesday afternoon, pushing a full 23-man roster to its limit. A roster move was coming soon either way once Rust was back, trade or not.

Edmonton wanted Hallander, and Pittsburgh wanted Stastney, Spezza said, calling it a fit on both sides. He added that the Penguins hold Hallander in high regard as a player and a person, especially after the adversity he overcame last season.

Hallander was Pittsburgh's own second-round pick in 2018, taken 58th overall, and signed a two-year contract with the club in April 2025. Stastney was Nashville's fifth-round pick that same year, moved from the Predators to Edmonton in a December 2025 trade before signing a one-year deal with the Oilers in July.

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He is a left-shot defenseman who can play either side. Spezza described him as a strong skater who works both ends of the ice, using his legs to retrieve pucks and move them to forwards.

Stastney has changed organizations twice in the past ten months, from Nashville to Edmonton in a December trade for a 2027 third-round pick and now from Edmonton to Pittsburgh for Hallander.

More roster moves ahead

The deal does not close the book on Pittsburgh's roster work. Winger Andrei Kuzmenko remains on non-roster status while he deals with the death of his father, a loss that also kept him out of training camp. He still needs to be activated, and Spezza said another roster move will follow once that happens.

Rather than make that decision immediately, Spezza said the team plans to get through its next two games and determine where the roster stands before sorting out the move that follows Kuzmenko's return.

The trade opened a spot up front without touching Rust's return, and it gave the blue line another body to sort out.

Stastney now walks into a Pittsburgh lineup that will decide over the next two games whether he is a depth piece or something more. The next move belongs to Kuzmenko's health, not the scoreboard.