Oilers make surprising one-for-one trade with Penguins and immediately save cap space
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The Oilers traded Spencer Stastney to Pittsburgh for forward Filip Hallander on Wednesday, a swap that saves Edmonton $675,000 in cap space.
The Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins agreed to a one-for-one trade on Wednesday.
Edmonton sent defenseman Spencer Stastney to the Penguins and received forward Filip Hallander in return.
Both players are 26 years old and both are signed through the end of this season.
The money side is small but it matters.
Stastney carries a $1.525 million cap hit, while Hallander comes in at $850,000.
That means Pittsburgh adds $675,000 to its books and Edmonton trims the same amount.
What the Oilers get in Hallander
Hallander is listed as a center and was a second-round pick of the Penguins, 58th overall, in 2018.
He has played 18 career NHL games with two goals and five assists.
This season he has three points through two games, so he arrives with early momentum.
For general manager Stan Bowman, the appeal looks simple.
He gets a forward who can slot into the bottom six on a cheaper deal and frees up breathing room under the cap.
It is the kind of small move that can quietly matter over 82 games.
What the Penguins get in Stastney
Stastney is a left-shot defenseman who landed in Edmonton last December, when the Oilers sent a 2027 third-round pick to Nashville for him.
Nashville originally drafted him in the fifth round in 2018.
He has 117 career NHL games with four goals and 15 assists.
General manager Kyle Dubas adds a defender with some NHL experience at a modest price, though PuckPedia shows no games played for him this season.
Both players can become unrestricted free agents in 2027, so this looks like a low-risk move for each club.
Edmonton gets forward depth, Pittsburgh gets defensive depth, and neither team is locked into anything long term.
Now it comes down to who makes better use of the new piece.
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