Bruins Sign Four Players, Including Former First Round Pick, to Two-Way Contracts
The Boston Bruins added organizational depth with a quartet of signings, adding forwards Brendan Gaunce and Brian Halonen, defenseman Maxence Guenette, and goaltender Jiri Patera on two-way contracts.
Brendan Gaunce brings the most notable pedigree of the group, as the 33-year-old two-way forward joins the organization with over 600 professional games played, including 214 in the NHL. The former Vancouver Canucks’ first rounder is known for his size and physicality, measuring in at 6’3” and 214 pounds, that makes him valuable in the defensive end. It will be his second stint in the Bruins organization after he spent the 2019-20 season between Providence and Boston, posting 37 points in 52 games for Providence and recording an assist in his long game for Boston.
Brian Halonen joins from the New Jersey Devils organization, where he began his career in 2022 after four years at Michigan Tech. The forward has appeared in 19 games at the NHL level, including recording his first NHL goal and assist during the 15 he appeared in last season. At the AHL level, Halonen appeared in 282 games for the Utica Comets and posted 140 points, including 111 assists.
Maxence Guenette will look to break back into the NHL after bouncing around the AHL each of the last two seasons without a call up. Guenette was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the final round of the 2019 draft and spent the majority of his first four seasons with the club’s AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators where he averaged nearly half a point per game in 236 games. He also had a cup of coffee in the NHL, appearing in 8 games across two seasons for Ottawa, with the last stint being seven games during the 2023-24 season. He spent last season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, recording 24 points in 46 games.
Jiri Patera rounds out the group of signings as he joins to compete to back-up incumbent starter Jeremy Swayman and provide goaltending for Providence. Patera spent the last two seasons in the Vancouver Canucks organization, playing 37 games for Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL and one game for Vancouver, part of a brief NHL career that has spanned nine games so far. Patera has represented his country, Czechia at both the senior and youth levels, including at the 2019 World Junior Championships and making his senior level debut at the Fortuna Hockey Games against Sweden last month.
Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram for the latest Boston Bruins news.
Chris Vogel contributes to both Boston College and Boston Bruins On SI, and is also play-by-play broadcaster for ACC Network Extra and Hockey East on ESPN. He’s a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and got his master's degree at Boston College, where he served as the radio voice of Boston College Women’s Hockey on WZBC 90.3; the flagship radio network of Boston College Women’s Athletics. He’s the host of the “All Things Hockey” podcast, and covers women’s college hockey for College Hockey On SI.