The Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators have made a one-for-one swap for defenseman and it makes one team younger but with less certainty, and the other one with some stability in the blue line depth chart.

Announced by the team on Monday afternoon, the Flyers have traded defenseman Dennis Gilbert to the Senators in exchange for defenseman Maxence Guenette. It’s a blockbuster, we know.

TRADE ALERT: We’ve acquired defenseman Maxence Guenette from Ottawa in exchange for defenseman Dennis Gilbert.

We have also agreed to terms with Guenette on a one-year, two-way contract. https://t.co/T6i6n9iPhj

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 17, 2025

Gilbert was a free agent acquisition by the Flyers this summer as someone who can at the very least be a minor-league depth veteran on the blue line. And, well, he was exactly that. The 29-year-old defenseman was on the NHL roster for a very little bit but never played in a game, and was always clearly just someone signed to just hang around the lower half of the depth chart just in case of injuries or underperformance from someone like Adam Ginning or Egor Zamula (well, they did underperform and he was still in the AHL).

Since being cut from the roster, Gilbert has appeared in six games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and earned a total of one assist. On a blue line with other more prominent prospects like Hunter McDonald and Ethan Samson, Gilbert wasn’t really needed a whole lot in the minors.

So, the Flyers have traded him to one of the teams that he played for just last season as an extra defenseman. And in return, the Flyers received a 24-year-old blueliner that has put up solid AHL numbers but hasn’t really figured it out in the NHL yet.

Flyers get younger, trade for Maxence Guenette

Other than immediately having one of the best names in the Flyers organization, Maxence Guenette adds an interesting wrinkle to the Phantoms blue line. He is clearly an offensive player with 25 goals and 116 points in 236 games through his last four seasons, and just came off a solid 2024-25 season with AHL Belleville where he finished second in scoring among defensemen with 23 points in 58 games. There is more of that edge that Gilbert ever provided.

Guenette was an unsigned restricted free agent and has not played in a game yet this season. Just last week reports came out that he asked for a trade out of the Sens organization since he was clearly not viewed as a key piece there, despite being an alternate captain for their AHL team. Now, he gets to be added to an already talented Phantoms team who are on the rise with a very exciting group of young players like Alex Bump, Denver Barkey, and Alexis Gendron lighting the lamp.

Where does Guenette fit on the Phantoms, though?

But, there is a little bit of a problem. Guenette shoots right and the Phantoms already have a lot of those dudes laying around.

Helge Grans and Christian Kyrou are two right-handed defenseman who are at the top of the Phantoms blue line. And then factor in that Ethan Samson made his return to the ice after missing the start of the season due to injury. And that’s not even considering that high-end prospect Oliver Bonk will eventually be making his way back to the team as well. Something has got to give eventually since the Phantoms won’t be running five right-handed defensemen when everyone is healthy.

Whether it’s another trade or maybe the Flyers really want to give someone like Kyrou (who has been red hot since Philadelphia acquired him earlier this month) or Grans a shot in the NHL — but, Emil Andrae and Noah Juulsen are certainly an above-average bottom pairing right now. We’ll all find out soon enough what the solution is,

For now, the Flyers got a new young(ish) defenseman and as a plus, he’s ginger.