SUNDAY FEATURE: Hallander's Skill Set Translating To North American Game

Editor's Note: All quotes within from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach JD Forrest and forward Filip Hallander are courtesy the Penguins' post-game Zoom media availability on Friday, October 22 with reporters Patrick Williams/TheAHL.com and Taylor Haase/DKPittsburghSports on the call.

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The American Hockey League (AHL) is a bit of a melting pot when it comes to having hockey players from all over the world coming together in one place, working on certain aspects of their game and just one proverbial step away from living out their dreams of playing in the NHL.

And while every AHL team has it's group of near NHL-ready veteran players, young players enter the pro game at the AHL level from various routes whether it's from major junior hockey in Canada (CHL) or the U.S. (USHL), the collegiate ranks (NCAA) or one of the several junior and pro leagues overseas in Europe.

AHL coaches will always say that prospect development isn't a simple, linear A to B path that all players follow together. With different backgrounds and different skill sets come different challenges that new players face when it comes time to adjust to the pro game in North America.

And that's no different for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Filip Hallander. The Penguins' 2018-2nd round pick has joined the organization following three years of pro hockey in Sweden's top-tier pro league SHL.

"It's been a change," Hallander explained of his early adjustment process with the Penguins. "I think that the first two games I haven't been so satisfied with with my play, and I've talked a lot with coaches about how to play over here and how to translate my game to play on the smaller rinks."

Hallander has competed against men in Sweden's pro hockey league, so physically he's more adjusted to life in the AHL than his counterparts coming out of the CHL who have played against teenagers ranging from 16-20 years old. The challenges he faces in his first season of pro hockey in North America is the smaller ice and time/space forcing him to make decisions much quicker than he's used to.

"He comes from a style of play that's different than what we want to do," Penguins head coach JD Forrest explained of Hallander's adjustment to the AHL. "We tried to just give him a few thoughts to have in his head out there as he's playing, and not so much thinking about the systems that we're playing, but how we want to play. It always takes a little bit and I find as well that sometimes the guys that played more pro games over there, it takes a little bit longer actually to adjust than some of the junior guys because the game is very structured and different."

Friday against Hartford, Hallander's third career AHL game, he opened the scoring 6:53 into the first period - crashing the net on an odd-man rush in transition and slamming home the rebound of a designed shot-pass of the goaltender's right leg pad by linemate Nathan Legare.

READ ALSO: GAME STORY Hartford - 1 at W-B/Scranton - 2 (OT) 10/22/21

"It's a bit of a different style to play," Hallander said of what he's seeing in his first few games. "It's faster and it's more chip in/chip out and I'm still learning, but I think this was this was a step in the right direction."

It seems like Hallander is getting more and more comfortable with every passing shift, which is not to be unexpected for a young player making the jump from the international size rinks to the smaller North American rinks.

"I think the first game [I] was more nervous and was thinking too much out there," Hallander explained, adding, "I think I need to have the confidence that I know I can have and I scored a couple of goals last season in Sweden. I think I have a good shot and I just need to need to have the confidence to take the puck to the net and not be the guy who's always chipping it down or passing [it to my] teammates."

While the game overseas is predicated on skating and much more of a skill game than the physical style in North America, the way the game is played in the AHL could actually be a benefit to the strengths of Hallander's skill set and the way he plays the game.

"I think I'm pretty good around the boards with the wall play and pretty strong on the puck. And I think my net front game is is pretty good as well," Hallander said of his game and what he brings to the table. "I like to be around the net and I think, as I said before, it was a good night for me [Friday] and I think I can learn from from this game and keep building on it."

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