Background
The Pittsburgh Penguins made two picks in the second round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, taking blueliner Calen Addison 51st overall and trading up to take Filip Hallander seven picks later at 58 overall. The Penguins went on to us Addison in a trade for Zucker, and the young defenseman appears to be emerging as a regular at the NHL level.
Prior to coming to transitioning to North America, the right to Hallander went to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a few seasons before being shipped back to the Penguins prior to the 2021-22 season. Hallander spent three seasons after being drafted in the SHL, putting up 59 points in 123 games. As a rookie in the AHL last season, Hallander put up 28 points in 61 games but finished fourth on the team with 14 goals, and, so far in 2022-23, appears to be ready to take the next step, leading the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with eight points through 10 games and earning a call up to Pittsburgh in early November.
Draft Comparables
Three Before
Akil Thomas
51st Overall (+7), Los Angeles Kings
The 51st overall pick in 2018, Thomas put up 102 points in 63 OHL games a year after being drafted and 84 points in 49 games the next season. Thomas debuted in the AHL in 2020-21 and showed some promise with 26 points in 40 games in the shortened season with the Ontario Reign, but dealt with injury last season and dropped off to 13 points in 40 games. So far in 2022-23, Thomas appears to be back on track boasts eight points in 12 AHL games.
Benoit-Olivier Groulx
54th Overall (+4), Anaheim Ducks
Joining the professional ranks two years after being drafted, Groulx posted 29 points in 42 AHL games with the San Diego Gulls and briefly joined the Anaheim Ducks for 18 games last season, scoring a goal and finishing with three points. Starting the 2022-23 season in the AHL, Groulx so far ranks among the top scorers for the Gulls with 12 points in 13 games.
Jacob Olofsson
56th Overall (+2), Montreal Canadiens
Taken 56th overall, Jacob Olofsson remains in Sweden and plays in the second tier of professional hockey, the HockeyAllsvenskan. So far the two-way center with good size appears to be a miss for the Canadiens.
Three After
Gabriel Fortier
59th Overall (-1), Tampa Bay Lightning
Taken one pick after Hallander, Fortier put up 83 points in 68 games with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar a year after being drafted, but slipped below a point per game average in the QMJHL the next season. Fortier posted a respectable 35 points in 72 AHL games in 2021-22 and dressed in 10 games for Tampa Bay, scoring a goal. Fortier looks off to a slow start in 2022-23 with only four points in 11 AHL games, but remains a call up candidate for the Lightning.
David Gustafsson
60th Overall (-2), Winnipeg Jets
Taken 60th overall, the fellow Sweden David Gustafsson put up 12 points in the SHL–compared to 21 for Hallander–in 2018-19 and jumped to North America the next season, scoring a goal in 22 games with the Winnipeg Jets and putting up seven points 13 AHL games with the Manitoba Moose. Gustafsson spent the majority of the next two seasons with the Moose, recording 49 points in 69 games and made the Winnipeg roster for the 2022-23 season, but so far only boasts two assists in 14 games.
Ivan Morozov
61st Overall (-3), Vegas Golden Knights
The final pick of the second round, Morozov spent two seasons after being drafted bouncing between the KHL, the VHL–the second tier of professional hockey in Russia–and the MHL–the top junior league in Russia, before joining SKA St. Petersburg full-time in 2020-21 and racking up 31 points in 55 games. Last season, Morozov spent time with two different KHL teams and in the VHL and debuted in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights. Morozov hopes to adjust to the North American style of play in 2022-23 with Henderson, but so far only boasts a single assist in six games.
Outliers
The clear steal of the draft so far appears to be Yegor Sharangovich at 141st overall. The New Jersey Devils forward scored 16 goals in 54 games as a rookie in 2020-21 and 24 goals in 76 games the next season. The emerging Phillip Kurashev taken at 120th overall managed 16 points in 54 games in 2020-21 and 21 points in 67 games the next season for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Final Thought
The Penguins seem extremely high on Hallander after trading up in the draft in 2018 and, after using the Swedish forward as a trade chip, reacquiring Hallander before last season. Though only posting 28 points in 61 AHL games last season, Hallander never played regularly in North America and projects to be more of a two-way forward to fill out the middle six with the ability to perform spot duty in the top six. Hallander compares favorably to the picks clustered around the 58th overall selection and looks on pace to be achieve NHL regularity as soon as next season.