The Toronto Maple Leafs will begin training camp on January 3rd ahead of the January 13th start date for the 2020-21 season to start.
The Toronto Maple Leafs training camp is expected to be a full and competitive training camp with plenty of new faces. There will be a healthy dose of veterans looking to land permanent spots on the roster and plenty of prospects looking to earn spots. A healthy dose of competition can only be a good thing for this team as they look to advance further into the NHL playoffs.
When the players all gather for Day 1 of training camp, there will be a few prospects who will not be there and one of them is Filip Hallander. For those who don’t remember, Hallander is the prospect that the Toronto Maple Leafs received from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Kasperi Kapanen trade.
The former second-round pick has been playing with Lulea HF in the Swedish Hockey League on loan. So far this season he has recorded three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 22 games. He had 14 points in 27 games last season with Lulea HF.
Hallander Is A Top 10 Prospect For The Toronto Maple Leafs
When Hallander was acquired from the Penguins, he instantly became a top 10 prospect on the Leafs depth chart. Many such as myself were looking forward to him attending training camp to get a good glimpse of what he brings.
This, however, will not happen as Lulea tweeted out an article on Friday, December 18th, that Filip Hallander will be staying in Sweden to play for Lulea for the rest of this season.
Nu är det klart att Filip Hållander blir kvar i Luleå Hockey under hela säsongen. https://t.co/DshX3LGChm pic.twitter.com/Xn6YqbAdjM
— Luleå Hockey (@LuleaHockey) December 18, 2020
Hallander was quoted as saying “Based on the special situation that prevails, it feels good that we have already finished with what applies for the rest of this season. It feels great that I stay in Luleå Hockey to fight for a Swedish Championship gold together with the team in the spring.”
It is easy to understand why Hallander has decided to stay in Sweden but sucks for Leafs fans who wished to see him in action. We will all have to wait until training camp for the 2021-22 season.