Penguins forward Filip Hallander sidelined by blood clot

Pittsburgh Penguins rookie forward Filip Hallander will be sidelined a minimum of three months due to a blood clot in his leg.

The team announced his status via social media on Friday morning.

Hallander, 25, briefly attended a practice session in Cranberry on Wednesday but quickly retreated to the team’s dressing room.

A native of Sweden, Hallander has appeared in 13 games this season and scored four points (one goal, three assists) while averaging 13:09 of ice time per contest.

Hallander was scratched for Thursday’s 5-3 home win against the Washington Capitals. In his five most recent games, he had primarily been deployed as a left winger on the top line next to franchise center Sidney Crosby.

The Penguins selected Hallander in the second round (No. 58 overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft. After appearing in only three NHL games between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Hallander left the Penguins as a restricted free agent and signed with Timra of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

Last season, Hallander finished second in the SHL’s scoring race with 53 points (26 goals, 27 assists) in 51 games.

Following that success, Hallander rejoined the Penguins this past offseason, agreeing to a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000 on April 28.

Notes:

• During a practice session in Cranberry on Friday, the team’s lines and pairings were:

17 Bryan Rust - 87 Sidney Crosby - 81 Ben Kindel

18 Tommy Novak - 71 Evgeni Malkin - 39 Anthony Mantha

19 Connor Dewar - 46 Blake Lizotte - 43 Danton Heinen

15 Joona Koppanen - 13 Kevin Hayes - 41 Ville Koivunen - 53 Philip Tomasino

28 Parker Wotherspoon - 65 Erik Karlsson

5 Ryan Shea - 58 Kris Letang

27 Ryan Graves - 75 Connor Clifton

24 Matt Dumba - 45 Harrison Brunicke

• The team’s first power-play unit was Crosby, Karlsson, Kindel, Malkin and Rust. The second unit included Hayes, Koivunen, Letang, Mantha and Novak.