Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Jaydon Dureau to Solar Bears from Syracuse; Belleville Senators Sign Alexis Gravel to Professional Tryout Contract

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Solar Bears, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning, announced Tuesday (Dec. 31) the following transactions.

• The Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL) have reassigned forward Jaydon Dureau to the Orlando Solar Bears from the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League (AHL).
• The Belleville Senators of the AHL have signed goaltender Alexis Gravel to a Professional Tryout Contract (PTO)

Dureau, 23, has recorded one goal and two assists in 16 games with the Crunch and three goals and one assist in five games with the Solar Bears this season. The White City, Saskatchewan native has appeared in 75 games over two seasons with the Solar Bears, scoring 48 points (18g-30a) and added 11 points in 11 playoff games during the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Dureau has also skated in 36 AHL games over five seasons, recording three goals and four assists. 

Prior to his professional career, the 6-foot, 176-pound forward played in 207 games in the Western Hockey League for the Portland Winterhawks, scoring 196 points on 65 goals and 131 assists.

Dureau was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the fifth round, 147 overall, in the 2020 NHL Draft and signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Lightning in the spring of 2022.

Gravel, 24, owns a 7-5-3 record in 16 appearances with the Solar Bears this season, with a 2.19 goals against average (GAA) and .937 save percentage (SV%). His 52-save shutout on December 22 vs. South Carolina set a new Solar Bears franchise mark for most saves in a shutout. The Val-des-Sources, Quebec native became the 10th Solar Bears goaltender to be named named ECHL Goaltender of the Week for the week of Dec. 16-22.

In 53 regular season games over three seasons at University of Quebec-Trois-Rivières, the Val-des-Sources, Quebec native posted a 38-11-1 record with eight shutouts. Gravel was a large contributor to his teams’ 2021-22 University Cup Championship. In three games, the 6-foot-3, 218-pound netminder posted a 3-0 record, with a 1.86 GAA and a .950 SV%, earning him the Most Valuable Player award and USports University Cup All-Star Team honors. 

Gravel played five seasons of junior hockey in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for the Halifax Mooseheads, leading them to the Memorial Cup Tournament during the 2018-19 season. In the tournament, Gravel was named Memorial Cup Most Outstanding Goaltender and placed on the First All-Star Team.  Gravel posted 33 wins during the 2018-19 regular season and recorded the fifth-best save percentage (.913) in all of the QMJHL. 

Internationally, Gravel represented Team Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament (now Hlinka Gretzky Cup) prior to the 2017-18 season and took home the Gold Medal.