The Philadelphia Flyers prospect pool is filled with a bunch of young talent who could steadily make their way up the developmental ladder to end up being impact players in the NHL. That\u2019s the hope, anyway. This week, though, two specific Flyers prospects decided to change up where they were playing to give them a better chance at doing exactly that.<\/p>\n
After all, if a player is stuck in a bad situation with a poor scoring environment or on a team who just can\u2019t help but be terrible defensively and lose almost every single game, is that really the best place to be during these vital years? A couple Flyers prospects have found themselves in slightly better situations to solve some problems.<\/p>\n
Carter Amico leaves Boston University for the USHL<\/p>\n
After being taken in the second round of the 2025 NHL Draft, defenseman Carter Amico was immediately a very intriguing prospect. The 6-foot-5 blueliner is as agile as he is big but suffered a season-ending injury (a broken kneecap) during his draft year that put him on the sidelines and left him as a large question mark for some teams. Clearly, the Flyers liked him enough to be one of their three selections in the second round.<\/p>\n
Amico made the jump from the NTDP to Boston University this season but has unfortunately just not found his footing. He\u2019s averaging just 6:40 TOI with the Terriers, being primarily a bottom-pairing blueliner and therefore, in the 18 games he played this season, registered a total of zero points.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t sound like the best playing environment to be in during your first year back from a devastating injury and trying to get your development on the right track to eventually turn pro. So, Amico was sent down to the USHL\u2019s Muskegon Lumberjacks this week.<\/p>\n
Woah!! The Lumberjacks have a big new defenseman in town, and we mean big!<\/p>\n
Welcome to Muskegon, Carter Amico!!<\/p>\n
More information at the link in our bio.#ChopChop<\/a> #GetJACKD<\/a> #MKG<\/a> #USHL<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/l6hYEWdW6R<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Muskegon Lumberjacks (@MuskegonJacks) January 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n On its face, it\u2019s not great to see a drafted prospect go back down to the junior level, but with the massive context of needing to just play hockey, it feels like a good move.<\/p>\n Amico will be playing a whole lot of minutes \u2014 it wouldn\u2019t surprise anyone if he were to be on the ice for half the game most nights \u2014 as he aims to show that he has fully recovered from his injury and can at least provide some offense along with being able to tower over everyone else.<\/p>\n The Flyers prospect should get his first taste of action for the Lumberjacks when they travel to Youngstown to face the Phantoms this Friday.<\/p>\n Max Westergard gets loaned to Allsvenskan<\/p>\n Amico is not the only Flyers prospect who has suddenly found themselves in a better situation this week. Max Westergard, the gutsy winger taken in the fifth round of the 2025 Draft who shone for Team Finland at the World Juniors, has also changed teams.<\/p>\n Last season, Westergard shone at the junior level, scoring 19 goals and 50 points in just 41 games for Frolunda\u2019s Under-20 team and that is what earned him the selection by the Flyers in the end. He even managed to make his SHL debut at just 17 years old and play against the best players available to him.<\/p>\n Westergard continued this path this season and found himself bouncing back and forth between the SHL and the U20 Nationell, but it was an awkward situation. He would go from scoring five points in a weekend against his peers, to then getting promoted up to the SHL and playing a total of three minutes. He was just not getting the right opportunity at the next level \u2014 zero points in 15 games \u2014 and he was proving to be so much better than everyone in the junior league, having scored a total of 21 points in just 12 games.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s all that he could\u2019ve done if he stayed with Frolunda. The SHL team is too good to have an 18-year-old winger in a prime opportunity, but their junior team was clearly going to make him basically take the year off and not progress forward as a player. So, Westergard was loaned to IF Bjorkloven of the HockeyAllsvenskan<\/a> Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n Now, he gets to play in an appropriate league for where he is \u2014 the Swedish second division feels like the right place for him to potentially show some more of his offense but also still be tested against grown men. IF Bjorkloven are at the top of the league with a 23-5 record so far this season, so it should be at least a very good scoring environment (and winning culture, if we want to use that) for Westergard to develop in.<\/p>\n Westergard should get his first taste of Allsvenskan action on Wednesday against Kalmar, and it looks like he\u2019ll be making his debut on the third line too. That\u2019s a little bit better than barely playing at all.<\/p>\n \t