Bruins, Flyers Swap Minor-League Skaters
The Bruins and Flyers announced a swap of minor-league skaters on deadline morning. Boston brings in forwards Massimo Rizzo and Alexis Gendron, while Philly lands forward Brett Harrison and defender Jackson Edward.
It’s an AHL and ECHL-bound skater each way. The most notable name is probably Harrison, a 22-year-old pivot who went 85th overall to Boston in the 2021 draft. The Ontario native once held a relatively high spot on the Bruins’ prospect ladder due to its overall weakness, but thanks to Boston’s retooling over the past couple of years, he hasn’t gotten an extended AHL opportunity, and his development has remained stagnant.
Largely a bottom-six piece for Providence, Harrison’s offense has varied very little from year-to-year. He put up 14 points in 47 games as a first-year pro in 2023-24 and has 17 points through 46 games this season. He has good size at 6’3″ and 201 lbs and could have a little more offensive upside to move up the lineup in the Flyers’ system in Lehigh Valley, but he’ll need to add some physicality to his game if he ever wants to get an NHL look.
The Flyers land another big body alongside Harrison in Edward, a 6’2″, 201-lb lefty who was a seventh-rounder in 2022. A pure shutdown threat first and foremost, he spent a good bit of time in Providence last season as a rookie, but has been more of a regular with ECHL Maine this year. In 68 pro games between Providence and Maine over the last year-plus, he’s managed two goals and 16 points with a -3 rating and 61 penalty minutes.
The Bruins’ additions are more offensively geared. Rizzo is 24 and was a seventh-round pick back in 2019, but he made some noise in the Flyers’ system, turning pro out of the University of Denver in 2024. He had 44 points in 30 games as a senior, his second straight point-per-game season, and the expectation was he’d be a significant AHL contributor out of the gate and potentially push for an NHL job.
That never happened. Rizzo only managed six goals and 18 points in 46 AHL games last year before failing to crack Lehigh Valley’s roster entirely for 2025-26. He’s spent the entire year on assignment to ECHL Reading, where he’s recorded a 6-16–22 scoring line in 29 outings with a -6 rating. The B’s are hoping he can turn that momentum into some potentially increased output in Providence.
Gendron, 22, was a seventh-round pick in 2022, taken 20 picks after Edward. The 5’11” winger plays a high-motor game and has the most successful pro track record of anyone in this transaction. He impressed with 20 goals in 63 games as a first-year pro for Lehigh Valley last season, creating some hope that he could end up as a fourth-line depth piece for Philly.
He’s still young enough that his development could come to pass. He’s having an even better offensive showing here in 2025-26 with a 10-12–22 scoring line in 47 outings for Lehigh Valley. He’ll now look to slot into an impact role for a P-Bruins squad that just lost Dans Locmelis for the season due to shoulder surgery.
NHL-Affiliated Prospects Playing In 2024 Memorial Cup
The field for the 2024 Memorial Cup, the top club tournament in junior hockey, is set. The QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs, the OHL’s London Knights and the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors all swept their respective league championship series within the last two days to advance to the CHL championship tournament, joining the host Saginaw Spirit of the OHL.
This year marks the first Memorial Cup held in the United States since 1998, which was hosted by the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. The Spirit will attempt to become the first U.S.-based team to win since the Chiefs in 2008, and they have a strong chance. They’re stronger than a typical host team, finishing second in the league in the regular season with a 50-16-2 record and trailing London by just two points. They were eliminated by London in six games in the Western Conference Final.
The Knights lead the way with 10 NHL-affiliated prospects on their roster, including two first-round picks in Flyers defenseman Oliver Bonk and Maple Leafs forward Easton Cowan. The latter was named the OHL playoffs MVP after leading the Knights in scoring with 10 goals, 24 assists and 34 points in just 18 games. He had 15 points in four games in their championship sweep over the Oshawa Generals.
If you’re looking for some non-Stanley Cup Playoff hockey to watch, check to see if your favorite NHL team has prospects suiting up in the tournament, which begins May 24:
Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL champion)
D Mikaël Diotte (Devils, free agent signing)
RW Ethan Gauthier (Lightning, 2023, 37th overall)
RW Alexis Gendron (Flyers, 2022, 220th overall)
D Vsevolod Komarov (Sabres, 2022, 134th overall)
NHL Utah 2022 first-round pick D Maveric Lamoureux is out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery in March.
London Knights (OHL champion)
C Denver Barkey (Flyers, 2023, 95th overall)
D Oliver Bonk (Flyers, 2023, 22nd overall)
C Easton Cowan (Maple Leafs, 2023, 28th overall)
D Jackson Edward (Bruins, 2022, 200th overall)
D Isaiah George (Islanders, 2022, 98th overall)
RW Kasper Halttunen (Sharks, 2023, 36th overall)
C Jacob Julien (Jets, 2023, 146th overall)
C Kaleb Lawrence (Kings, 2022, 215th overall)
C Max McCue (Blue Jackets, free agent signing)
C Landon Sim (Blues, 2022, 184th overall)
Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL champion)
RW Jagger Firkus (Kraken, 2022, 35th overall)
D Denton Mateychuk (Blue Jackets, 2022, 12th overall)
D Kalem Parker (Wild, 2023, 181st overall)
D Vojtech Port (Ducks, 2023, 161st overall)
LW Martin Rysavy (Blue Jackets, 2021, 197th overall)
C Matthew Savoie (Sabres, 2022, 9th overall)
C Brayden Yager (Penguins, 2023, 14th overall)
Saginaw Spirit (host)
C Owen Beck (Canadiens, 2022, 33rd overall)
LW Josh Bloom (Canucks, acquired from Sabres in 2023 trade for Riley Stillman)
D Rodwin Dionicio (Ducks, 2023, 129th overall)
D Jorian Donovan (Senators, 2022, 136th overall)
C Hunter Haight (Wild, 2022, 47th overall)
C Ethan Hay (Lightning, 2023, 211th overall)
G Nolan Lalonde (Blue Jackets, free agent signing)
C Matyas Sapovaliv (Golden Knights, 2022, 48th overall)
C Joseph Willis (Predators, 2023, 111th overall)
Minor Transactions: 01/03/2024
The hockey world is fulling pulling into the second half of the 2023-24 season, with the 100th anniversary of the Spengler Cup being awarded to the tourney’s host team, HC Davos, and the semi-finals of the World Juniors Championship set to begin soon. This means plenty of exciting time for international hockey, as well as plenty of roster moves, as players return from their national team back to their league play. As always, we’ll cover notable transactions here.
- Philadelphia Flyers prospect Alexis Gendron has seen his QMJHL rights traded from the Gatineau Olympiques to the Drummondville Voltigeurs, with Gatineau receiving three draft picks in return. This must have been what Philadelphia wanted to see, as they’ve assigned Gendron back to the QMJHL for the rest of the season. The 20-year-old, former seventh-round draft pick was previously playing in his first professional season, recording five goals and seven points in 17 AHL games. Gendron has previously played four seasons in the QMJHL – including three with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada – totaling 141 points in 160 games in the league.
- Team Canada’s Spengler Cup team has returned a quartet of players to their AHL squad. This includes the Laval Rockets’ Nicolas Beaudin, the Belleville Senators’ Dillon Heatherington, the Manitoba Moose’s Thomas Milic, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ Ty Smith. Milic appeared in one game between the pipes for Team Canada, while Smith led the team’s defensemen with five points. Heatherington and Beaudin only combined for one assist through the tournament’s four games.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Evening Notes: Nieto, Gendron, Zaitsev
Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports is reporting that the Pittsburgh Penguins have transferred forward Matthew Nieto to the Long-Term Injured Reserve after activating forward Bryan Rust. Nieto has been out of action for the Penguins with a lower-body injury since November 30th and is free to return whenever he is physically able to as he has already exceeded the 10-game, 24-day requirement for LTIR.
Nieto signed a two-year deal with the Penguins on July 1st and has been terrific on the penalty kill but has struggled at even strength as the fourth line has been ineffective when he has been a part of it thus far. In 22 games this season the 31-year-old Long Beach, California native has a goal and three assists. The timing of Nieto’s injury was unfortunate as he was starting to gain traction in the games leading up to him getting hurt.
In other evening notes:
- Philadelphia Flyers writer Bill Meltzer is reporting that the Flyers have returned forward Alexis Gendron to the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL. The 20-year-old had played in 17 games for the Flyers AHL affiliate the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and had posted five goals and two assists. His QMJHL rights were traded by the Gatineau Olympiques to Drummondville on December 30th meaning he will be suiting up for the Voltigeurs for the first time.
- Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks are set to welcome defenseman Nikita Zaitsev back to the lineup tonight when they take on the Nashville Predators. The 32-year-old has been out with an illness and will draw back into the lineup in place of Isaak Phillips after a two-game absence. Zaitsev has dressed in 18 games this season and has averaged 15:42 of ice time per game while registering a goal and four assists.
Flyers Sign Alexis Gendron To Entry-Level Contract
The Philadelphia Flyers announced they’ve signed forward Alexis Gendron, a seventh-round pick from their 2022 draft class. The team did not disclose the financial terms of Gendron’s contract, although CapFriendly reports it’s a three-year contract worth $860K per season. Gendron will earn $775K in the NHL, an $85K signing bonus, and an $82.5K salary in the minors in each season.
Selected six spots before the draft concluded, Gendron is the first member of Philadelphia’s 2022 draft class to sign his entry-level contract. The team’s top prospect from that year, fifth-overall pick Cutter Gauthier, is expected to return to Boston College for his sophomore season in 2023-24 and remains unsigned. Philadelphia acquired the 220th overall pick used to select Gendron and the signing rights to defenseman Tony DeAngelo, whom they bought out earlier this month, from the Carolina Hurricanes.
Gendron, 19, can play both right wing and center and was selected out of the QMJHL from the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Amidst a strong post-draft season in the Q, he was dealt to the Gatineau Olympiques in December 2022, and he went on to post the most postseason goals of any QMJHLer in this year’s playoffs with 14 in just 13 games.
The undersized forward relies on his creativity to generate offense, and he’s got a distinctive eye for plays such as bank and stretch passes. He obviously has decent shooting acumen, too, and while he’s not a defensive liability, he likely won’t be tasked with much penalty-killing responsibility in the NHL at just 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds.
Gendron will likely return to Gatineau in 2023-24 for his final season in juniors, although due to his 20th birthday falling before January 1, he’s not eligible for an entry-level slide, and the Flyers will burn the first year of his contract regardless of how many NHL games he plays. Gendron is eligible for assignment to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, however, another unusual quirk because of his late December birthday.