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Flyers, Senators Swap Dennis Gilbert, Max Guenette

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11/18/25: The Flyers placed Guenette on waivers today, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Since the 24-year-old hasn’t played in the NHL since 2023-24 and has just eight games of NHL experience, that was always the likeliest outcome after yesterday’s trade. Now, all 31 other clubs will have the chance to claim Guenette, and if he goes unclaimed, the Flyers will be able to assign him to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, their AHL affiliate.

11/17/25: The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they’ve traded defenseman Dennis Gilbert to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for defenseman Max Guenette. Philadelphia also announced that they’ve signed Guenette, who was an RFA, to a one-year, two-way deal.

It becomes the second trade in as many seasons to the Senators for Gilbert. The 29-year-old native of Buffalo, NY, was traded to Ottawa during the 2024-25 season as part of the Dylan Cozens and Joshua Norris swap with the Buffalo Sabres.

Still, Gilbert didn’t earn much runway with the Senators after the trade. Despite the trade taking place in early March, Gilbert only appeared in four games for Ottawa down the stretch, registering one assist while averaging 13:02 of ice time. In Buffalo, he tallied five assists in 25 games while averaging 10:04 of ice time.

Gilbert has spent the entire season up to this point with the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He’s added one assist in six games with a +1 rating and is expected to join the AHL’s Belleville Senators.

Unlike Gilbert, Guenette will play for his first professional team outside the Senators organization. The former 187th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft has spent the last five years within the Senators organization, scoring 27 goals and 116 points in 236 AHL games, with zero points in eight NHL contests.

Despite the freshly signed two-way contract for Guenette, there’s no indication he’ll join the Flyers’ active roster immediately. Whenever he suits up, whether with the Flyers or the Phantoms, it’ll be his first appearance of the 2025-26 campaign.

Senators Recall Stephen Halliday, Lassi Thomson

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Before they embark on a seven-game road trip that will take them into December, the Ottawa Senators have recalled some depth to their active roster. According to a team announcement, the Senators have recalled forward Stephen Halliday and defenseman Lassi Thomson from the AHL’s Belleville Senators.

Unfortunately, the recall was preceded by some negativity. According to multiple reports, Ottawa has placed defenseman Thomas Chabot and forward Olle Lycksell on their injured reserve. Chabot’s upper-body injury is expected to keep him out of the lineup for the next couple of weeks. However, the Senators didn’t entirely rule out that he could return by the end of the upcoming road trip.

Halliday, 23, has the opportunity to make his NHL debut throughout the duration of the recall. The Ohio State University alumnus was drafted with the 104th overall pick by the Senators in the 2022 NHL Draft and transitioned to professional hockey toward the end of the 2023-24 campaign.

Since then, he’s been one of the more productive forwards for the AHL Senators. Starting with a 10-game debut to conclude the 2023-24 campaign, Halliday has scored 20 goals and 72 points in 96 games with Belleville and was leading the team in scoring before the recall. Halliday was also impressive in his one postseason run, scoring two goals and nine points in seven games.

Still, there is some reason for concern due to Halliday’s performance on the defensive side of the puck. Despite leading the team in scoring last season, Halliday finished with a dreadful -20 rating, nine points lower than the next worst. Granted, the AHL Senators didn’t qualify for the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs, but the team as a whole only finished with a -17 goal differential.

Meanwhile, Thomson has had a far different trajectory with the Senators organization as a prospect. Drafted with the 19th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft, there’s no question that Thomson has fallen well short of expectations.

He began his professional career in North America at the end of the 2020-21 season, and primarily played with Belleville. Until the 2023-24 campaign, Thomson had scored 26 goals and 93 points in 202 AHL games with the Senators with a -28 rating. The disappointing performance led to Thomson leaving North America altogether last season, signing with the SHL’s Malmö Redhawks to a two-year deal.

It was a relatively promising season in the SHL, with Thomson scoring 17 goals and 29 points in 50 games, and adding three more goals in eight postseason contests. As things would turn out, the Redhawks released Thomson after one season, allowing him to re-sign with the Senators this past offseason.

Assessing The Senators’ Center Situation

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The Senators addressed a significant internal matter this week by securing a four-year contract extension for center Shane Pinto worth $30MM. The deal guarantees Ottawa’s center depth until at least 2030, as Tim Stützle and Dylan Cozens are already signed until then with cap hits similar to Pinto’s new deal ($8.35MM for Stützle and $7.1MM for Cozens). With the middle of the ice locked in Ottawa for the foreseeable future, it’s fair to wonder how the centers will line up moving forward.

Pinto’s $7.5MM cap hit certainly caught some attention across the league. Still, with the salary cap expected to rise significantly over the coming years, it’s clear that the NHL’s economic landscape will look very different soon. AFP Analytics had projected Pinto to earn nearly $6MM annually on a five-year extension; however, that estimate was made before Pinto started this season with seven goals in six games – although he has just two in 13 contests since. Ottawa’s current line combinations have Pinto centering the third line, although it’s given almost identical ice time to Cozens’ second line.

With Pinto’s increase in usage, it’s fair to wonder how Cozens would respond to being moved down the lineup. When he is playing well, Cozens is a terrific transition player who does a lot of damage off the rush and can tuck away garbage goals. However, when he is off his game, he doesn’t do enough away from the puck to justify a top-six job, and his defensive work is subpar. The same can’t be said for Pinto, who, granted, doesn’t have the same offensive track record as Cozens, but plays a better two-way game and can still get to the dirty areas of the ice to clean up rebounds.

The dynamic down the middle for Ottawa will be fascinating to watch in the coming year or two, particularly if Pinto can maintain his current offensive pace. Pinto’s career high in points is 37 from last year, while Cozens’ career high came in 2022-23 when he had 31 goals and 37 assists for 68 in 81 games. Since that season, Cozens has regressed offensively, tallying just 47 points in each of the last two seasons. However, since being acquired in the trade from the Sabres last March, Cozens has registered 12 goals and 18 assists in 39 games, which translates to a 63-point pace over an 82-game season. If Cozens can maintain his offensive production going forward, it would likely solidify him as the Senators’ second-line center, unless Pinto takes a massive step offensively.

Pinto’s overall game is probably the best suited for third-line duties out of all the Senators’ pivots. Pinto has been in the role for a few years now and has excelled with his terrific two-way play. He takes on tough matchups, kills penalties, and takes the bulk of the defensive zone starts. Examining this raises the question of whether Ottawa would be best served by maintaining the status quo in the future, as it best suits the players’ skill sets.

Then, there’s the morale factor. It’s tough to say what was promised behind closed doors, but a safe bet is that Pinto knows his role with Ottawa for the foreseeable future, and clearly, whatever that role is, it suits him just fine. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have signed for another four seasons. Hypothetically, even if signing in Ottawa wasn’t Pinto’s first choice, he did give up two UFA seasons to do so, which suggests he probably doesn’t dislike the current setup or his assigned role. There’s also the possibility that Ottawa had to overpay Pinto to keep him in a lesser role. Pinto is aware of the situation; he can see the depth at the center position and likely understands that not everyone gets to make flashy plays or be on the top power play and in the top six. Pinto knows his role and signed up for it, which makes it easier to keep him in the 3C position.

The same can’t be said for Cozens, who didn’t sign up for a demotion with the Senators, nor did he sign with the Senators at all. Cozens agreed to a seven-year deal in Buffalo before he was traded to Ottawa, meaning he didn’t choose the team or the role he’d play there and was thrown into both. Now, Cozens probably isn’t too upset about being moved from a perennial losing team to one that is finding its identity and developing as a group. But, from an outsider’s perspective, the chance of him being demoralized with a third-line role is much higher than with Pinto, who has already been in that role and signed up for another four years of it.

Nick Jensen Leaves Game With Upper-Body Injury

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  • Outside of ending the Boston Bruins’ seven-game winning streak, the Ottawa Senators are dealing with some injury concerns on their blue line. The Senators announced that defenseman Nick Jensen had left the game due to an upper-body injury, and didn’t have any updates regarding his status after the game. Jensen finished the game with one hit and two giveaways with a -1 rating in 12:02 of action.

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Senators Sign Shane Pinto To Four-Year Extension

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The Ottawa Senators have signed centerman Shane Pinto to a four-year, $30MM contract extension. The deal will run through the 2029-30 season. It was first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger. This move comes in the wake of speculation that Ottawa was planning to reapproach Pinto about an extension sometime this week.

The new deal will carry a yearly cap hit of $7.5MM and carry through two years of Pinto’s unrestricted free agent eligibility. That yearly salary is a full $1MM over the number believed to have been offered to Pinto on an eight-year extension before the start of the season. There was reason to believe Pinto wasn’t satisfied with the long-term deal, or slim price tag, of that previous offer per Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch. Now, he’ll find the middle ground between those factors, and maintain the chance to sign a heftier deal before he’s too far away from his prime years.

Pinto’s contract will also mark a new baseline for other young, emerging centerman across the league. He has been a true force for the Senators this season, stepping up as a much-needed second-line center and posting 14 points in 17 games, the third-most on the team. The scoring is a major surge forward from the 37 points he scored in 70 games last season, but it doesn’t seem all too unsustainable. Pinto has recorded a career-high 17.4 shooting percentage this year – 0.9 percent more than he managed last year, and 4.2 percent higher than the 13.4 percent he’s averaged since 2023. But he has also performed in-line with his expected-goals (7.0 xG to 8 goals), suggesting that his step in scoring comes from true improvements.

Finding the balance between properly rewarding a young star, without overcommitting, was the challenge that Ottawa faced. In market value, Pinto seemed to land somewhere between the likes of Marco Rossi (Minnesota, three-years, $15MM) and Connor Zary (Calgary ,three-years, $11.325MM); and the likes of Frank Nazar (Chicago, seven-years, $46.13MM) and Mason McTavish (Anaheim, six-years, $42MM). The deal Ottawa has delivered suggests exactly that, placing Pinto closer to the former in term but the latter in yearly and total salary. This move also continues the trend of young centers signing shorter-term deals, potentially setting the NHL up for exciting free agencies in a few years.

More than setting his market price, this deal will cement a deep connection between Ottawa and Pinto. The two sides have seen their fair share of ups-and-downs since Pinto was selected 32nd-overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. After netting 59 points in 56 games of his sole USHL season, Pinto moved to the University of North Dakota for his underclass years. He posted 60 points in 61 games with the Fighting Hawks, and turned pro with Ottawa at the end of the 2020-21 season. Pinto was a quick impact, looking capable of keeping up with NHL speed and physicality, and posting seven points in his first 12 NHL games. He seemed well set up for a breakout campaign in 2021-22, but missed nearly the entire season with a shoulder injury that began in the fourth game of the season. He tried to return from the injury a few games later, but reinjured his shoulder and got knocked out of the season.

Pinto returned for the 2022-23 season with that breakout still top of mind. He got off to a hot start, earning October’s ’Rookie of the Month’ honors following six goals and seven points in eight games to start the year. His scoring petered out over a long November, sparking a hot-and-cold streak that’d span the year. In total, Pinto posted 20 goals and 35 points in 82 games of his rookie season. It was a modest performance, but not neccesarily the breakout many anticipated from the high second-round pick. Hopes remained high for the 2023-24 season.

But Pinto was once again derailed, this time suspended by the NHL for invovlvement with prohibited sports gambling. The League stepped up to make an example of Pinto by suspending him for the first 41 games of the season. He served through that punishment, and still looked promising in the second-half of Ottawa’s season. He scored nine goals and 27 points in 41 games, putting him on pace for 54 points across a full season, had he had the opportunity.

The return to an impact role wasn’t enough to cement Pinto’s presence in Ottawa, though. The Senators faced an uphill battle attempting to sign Pinto to a contract and then an extension amid his return from suspension. At one point, Pinto suggested he was hoping to be offer-sheeted away from the Senators organization, though he never officially requested a trade. Ultimately the two sides came together first on a one-year deal that pushed him through the 2023-24 season, then on a two-year extension that carries him through this season.

Now, Ottawa will finally cement Pinto’s spot in the lineup. He seems to be emerging as the high-octane forward the team was always hoping for, marked by a career-high 19 minutes of average ice time. He’s played over 20 minutes of ice time in three of Ottawa’s last five games, and rewarded them with three points in that stretch. The Senators’ top-end is loaded with promising, young forwards, including Tim Stutzle and Dylan Cozens. Now, they’ll add the 25-year-old Pinto to that mix for the long haul.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports.

Senators Notes: Chabot, Formenton, Guenette

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After sustaining an upper-body injury in Tuesday’s game against Dallas, it appears that Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot will miss at least one more contest.  Sportsnet’s Alex Adams relays (Twitter link) that it’s unlikely that the veteran will suit up on Thursday against Boston; head coach Travis Green indicated that Chabot is still being evaluated and the severity of the injury is not yet known.  While his playing time is down a bit this season, the 28-year-old has still played a big role on Ottawa’s back end in the early going, picking up 10 points in 17 games while logging nearly 22 minutes a night of action.  Assuming that Chabot is ultimately scratched, Nicolas Matinpalo will likely take his place in the lineup.

More from Ottawa:

  • The Senators have received inquiries about RFA winger Alex Formenton but interest has been limited thus far, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 26-year-old last played in the NHL in 2021-22 and is currently in his third season with Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland where he has three goals and two assists in 13 games.  Formenton will be eligible to return to the NHL as of December 1st following the expiration of his suspension which is also the same day that he will have to be signed to be eligible to play this season as he’s an RFA unlike the other players involved in the sexual assault trial that concluded back in July.  It’s possible that the Sens could renounce his rights before then to make him eligible to sign later in the season but they would require special permission from the league to do so.
  • Also from Garrioch’s piece, GM Steve Staios is hoping that there will be a resolution soon when it comes to RFA defenseman Max Guenette. The 24-year-old declined Ottawa’s efforts to re-sign him this summer, instead asking for a trade after Lassi Thomson was brought back.  However, no trade has materialized yet, meaning the December 1st deadline also applies to Guenette.  Garrioch suggests that the Senators are hoping for a draft pick in return but teams are also asking for Ottawa to take a contract back.  Even though the Sens have seven open contract slots per PuckPedia, that doesn’t appear to be something they’re willing to do at the moment.

Evening Notes: Devils, Chabot, Olympics

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Amanda Stein, Devils team reporter, shared updates ahead of the team’s five game road trip. Dougie Hamilton and Connor Brown did not travel. Hamilton was noted over the weekend as out for around a week due to an undisclosed injury, after leaving mid-game against Montreal on November 6th. Brown has yet to appear in November, apparently hampered by an upper-body injury, and has missed the last five games. 

Unfortunately such injuries have become common for Hamilton, 32, at this point in his career. Currently in year five of his seven year deal signed with New Jersey, his unscathed 82-game campaign in 2022-23 was far and away his best as a pro with 74 points, but since then he has not managed to play in more than 64 games in a season. 

Brown, signed last summer to a four-year deal, was off to a start worthy of the eyebrow raising contract, with five goals in 11 games. In his absence, Dawson Mercer has stepped up and provided great secondary scoring, currently just shy of a point-per-game pace, and eight goals in 16 games. 

New Jersey remains third in the league, and the five game road trip will be a test, as they’ve handled business at home, 7-0-1. As noted by Stein, the club will split the trip into two legs, so perhaps Brown or Hamilton could rejoin the team by the end. 

Elsewhere across the league:

  • The Ottawa Senators shared mid-game that defenseman Thomas Chabot will not return tonight versus the Stars, due to an upper-body injury. The skilled defender was seen attempting to return for the second period, but quickly going back down the tunnel before puck drop. Further details have not been provided, but considering that Chabot nearly returned, hopefully the ailment is not serious. The 28-year-old has not missed a game so far this season. 
  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet shared earlier today an interesting article: NHL representatives are headed to Milan next week to check progress on the 2026 Olympic Games arena in person, as the main hockey arena is behind schedule. Such a situation is not unheard of in the Olympic Games, considering the scale of such projects, but we may find out if there is real concern shortly, with February rapidly approaching. As mentioned by Friedman, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has been reassured continuously, however, for representatives of the league to make the trip upon the completion of the Stockholm Series, it is a situation worth monitoring. 

Senators, Shane Pinto To Meet Again On Contract Extension

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The Ottawa Senators will resume one of their most important conversations of the season later this week. High-scoring centerman Shane Pinto is set to become an arbitration-eligible, restricted free agent this summer, after closing out the two-year bridge deal he signed in 2024. The Senators have already started offering new deals to the 24-year-old, including a six-year, $52MM extension offered last month, per Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch. That deal would have set Pinto’s cap hit at $6.5MM each season – though Garrioch points out that Pinto likely wouldn’t have liked the money or term of that deal.

Pinto has certainly garnered the right to ask for a few favors on his next contract. He’s scored eight goals and 14 points through 16 games this season, good for third on the team in scoring behind Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle (16 points each). More than that, Pinto has posted a 57.8 faceoff percentage on 199 draws – ranking him 16th in the league among eligible players (>100 faceoffs). He also ranks among the top-five Senators forwards in blocked shots per game. That performance has cemented Pinto as Ottawa’s second-line center this season – a role the team was desperately looking for, even acquiring Dylan Cozens to fit the bill last season.

Pinto saved his career-year for his contract-year, but his performance doesn’t appear to be a total fluke. He leads the Senators’ offense in total expected-goals with 7.0 – a mark he’s just narrowly outperformed with eight goals on the year. He also leads the bunch in shot attempts per game – averaging 5.8, one full shot more than Stutle’s 4.8 in second-place. Pinto has recorded an 18.6 shooting percentage in total – a mark that sits far above his career-average of 13.2 percent. That could indicate that the young center is set to fall back to Earth in due time, though it could also be elevated by Pinto’s growing lineup role.

In full, Pinto is on pace to score 41 goals and 72 points this season. That would blow his previous best – 21 goals and 37 points scored last year – out of the water. It would also command far more than $6.5MM each season, especially against the growing salary cap.

Few players have found themselves in Pinto’s shoes – with a productive, top-end role still a few years away from their prime. Many comparable free agents have opted to avoid max-term contracts – including Marco Rossi, who signed a three-year, $15MM deal with the Minnesota Wild, and Connor Zary, who signed a three-year, $11.325MM deal with the Calgary Flames.

Pinto and his agent Lewis Gross could point towards Chicago Blackhawks’ recent extension of Frank Nazar as a baseline. Chicago inked Nazar to a seven-year, $46.2MM contract ahead of his second full season in the NHL. Nazar has gone on to score just below a point-per-game pace – 11 points in 15 games – enough to cement his spot as Chicago’s number-two behind Connor Bedard. Pinto is three years older than Nazar, and likely won’t be able to carve out as much importance on a top-heavy Senators offense. Nonetheless, shooting for roughly $7MM each season could be a sensible mark, especially if Pinto continues his dominant season.

The salary cap is expected to grow by up to $8.5MM between this season and next. That will be more than enough room for Ottawa to afford a player-friendly extension with Pinto – or earn some savings by pulling him closer to their first offer. Either way, it seems the Senators are well on their way towards cementing yet another young, high-potential forward into their future.

Photo courtesy of Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports.

Senators Recall Hayden Hodgson

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The Ottawa Senators have recalled forward Hayden Hodgson from the AHL’s Belleville Senators. This is Hodgson’s first call-up of the season. He is in his second year with the Ottawa organization, after signing a one-year, two-way contract on July 2nd.

Hodgson spent roughly a week on Ottawa’s roster last season. He made two appearances in that span, and recorded no scoring and one fight. The rest of his season was spent with Belleville, where he posted a team-leading 156 penalty minutes – and 11 points – in 43 games. Hodgson became known for his bruising, enforcer presence througout four years in the ECHL and five years in the AHL. That presence has earned Hodgson nine games in the NHL in total. He has recorded three points and 16 penalty minutes at the top flight.

Hodgson has returned to his usual role this season, again leading Belleville with 28 PIMs through their first 11 games of the season. Ottawa will now bring in that imposing presence ahead of a match against the Utah Mammoth, who have posted the fourth-fewest hits-per-game this season. This is the second game of a back-to-back for Ottawa, which could push Hodgson into the lineup in relief of Olle Lycksell. Ottawa also has gritty forward Kurtis MacDermid in the press box. MacDermid has posted no scoring and 11 penalty minutes in seven games this season.

Former Flyers Center Mel Bridgman Passes Away At 70

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Former Philadelphia Flyers centerman and general manager of the 1992 Ottawa Senators, Mel Bridgman, has passed away at the age of 70. Bridgman was the first-overall selection in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft. He played through 14 seasons in the NHL, then returned to school to support a front office career with the Senators.

Philadelphia drafted Bridgman on the heels of the Broad Street Bullies era. Coming off of back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, the Flyers managed to acquire the first-overall pick from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Bill Clement, Don McLean, and a later first round pick. Naturally, the Flyers took a player that fit right in with their gritty style. Bridgman was coming off a 157-point season in the WCHL, the predecessor to the modern WHL. He didn’t keep quite that spark in the NHL, but still put together a solid rookie year, with 50 points and 86 penalty minutes in 80 games. That presence helped Bridgman climb into a major role with the Flyers at only 20-years-old, and earned him a fifth-place finish in 1976 Calder Trophy voting.

Bridgman found his groove as a hard-nosed grinder over the next five seasons. He became the seventh Flyer to cross the mark of 200 penalty minutes when he reached 203 PIMs in the 1997-78 season. He continued to rival that mark through 1981, all while routinely rivaling 50-to-60 points. Bridgman reached his scoring peak in the 1981-82 season, though the bulk of his points would come with the Calgary Flames, after a contentious November trade swapped him for Brad Marsh. Bridgman put up 75 points and 94 penalty minutes in 63 games with Calgary, bringing him up to a year-long total of 87 points and 141 penalty minutes after nine games with Philadelphia to start the season.

His scoring fell back to normal in the following year, prompting a move to the New Jersey Devils in 1983. Bridgman, once Philadelphia’s captain for three years, took on the Devils’ captaincy and led the team in scoring (61 points) in the 1984-85 season. He continued to wear the ’C’ until being traded to the Detroit Red Wings at the 1987 Trade Deadline. Bridgman continued his career for two more years, and retired with the Vancouver Canucks in 1989.

Soon after ending his playing days, the well-known Bridgman was named GM of a 1992 expansion team, the revitalized Ottawa Senators. He brought in eight-year pro John Ferguson as his Director of Player Personnel, and built a Senators squad headlined by Peter Sidorkiewicz, Norm Maciver, and Brad Shaw. The team ranked dead-last in scoring in their inagural season, leading to an attempt to spur the offense with Alexei Yashin and Alexandre Daigle, the second-overall pick in 1992 and first-overall pick in 1993 respectively. The duo led the Senators in scoring as rookies, but failed to pull Ottawa from the league’s depths, prompting Bridgman to launch a flurry of roster transactions that would end with his firing at the end of the 1992-93 season.

Bridgman stepped away from the NHL following his ousting in Ottawa. To some, he’s remembered as a great Flyer who led the team through the first years after their dynasty era. To others, he’s among the most imposing players of the NHL’s most physical era, as described by Mike Bossy in his biography and NHL Player’s Tribune letter. Bridgman’s tenure in the NHL often sparked controversy, but was never short of action. He was tapped to lead clubs through dark times, as a player and manager, and did both with breakneck pace. Pro Hockey Rumors sends condolences to Bridgman’s family, friends, and fans.

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