The Philadelphia Flyers begin their 2024-25 season on Oct. 11, and all eyes will be on Matvei Michkov. While that story should steal all the headlines, another key rookie to monitor is Jett Luchanko. The 18-year-old first-round pick from the 2024 NHL Draft is set to be the youngest player in the league despite being taken 13th overall.
Luchanko is intriguing for several reasons, as his spot isn’t guaranteed for the duration of the season. Does he stay with the Flyers? How will he perform? That’s what we’ll discuss.
Ideal Fit for the Flyers’ System
One thing going for Luchanko at this stage is his strengths as a hockey player. It’s worth noting that the Flyers’ weakness at the center position more or less made it a cakewalk for him to make the team. It was a reasonable bet to make that by the end of training camp, he’d become one of the four best centers in the organization—that came to fruition. However, his play style works with what the team is trying to do, as well.
We can expect Luchanko to be useful in all three zones this season. While we can’t put too much stock into it, he has consistently shown that he is capable of breaking up plays in the defensive zone from rookie camp to the team’s main training camp. Plus, his transitional game seems to be more polished than his tracking numbers from juniors suggested. His offensive-zone presence could be a work in progress, but his playmaking ability in close proximity to the net is a strength of his but was a weakness of the 2023-24 Flyers. Picture a mix of some of the best qualities that centers Sean Couturier, Morgan Frost, and Ryan Poehling possess—that’s the upside Luchanko could have.
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Luchanko seemingly has the versatility to be whatever head coach John Tortorella wants him to be. The team is very active all over the ice, especially in transition. There is immediate upside here for Luchanko to be one of the Flyers’ more involved players in this area, consistently getting puck touches and becoming more comfortable as a result. Furthermore, he should get looks on both special teams units like he did in the preseason. There is potential for this player to work his way up the lineup as his 2024-25 campaign progresses due to his usefulness in several situations.
Does Luchanko Get a Full 82-Game Look?
Personally, I don’t think the Flyers would have bothered with putting Luchanko on their main roster if they were leaning toward sending him back down to juniors. To me, they’ll end the experiment only if he proves that he is not an NHL centerman—Tortorella echoed this.
”I’m going to let the kid play because he deserves to be here and to play. And then we’ll make our call from there,” he said during an Oct. 7 press conference.
While coaches do the bit of trying to say the right things before the season constantly, Tortorella seemed genuine here. If Luchanko shows he is an upgrade over some of the Flyers’ NHL players, it doesn’t matter what age he is—he’ll be with the team. Any areas where he needs to develop can be addressed by the coaching staff (and a good one at that).
Due to the things outlined, I expect Luchanko to stick in the NHL over the course of the season. His first nine games will dictate that, as a year of his entry-level contract would be burned if he stayed past that point, but I don’t think the Flyers are too concerned about that. Operating purely to win games, it’s logical for him to stay as long as he makes the Orange and Black a better hockey club. Due to how uninspiring the team is down the middle, the Luchanko experiment could last through April.
Projecting Luchanko’s Numbers
If he does stay, projecting an actual point total for Luchanko is still a shot in the dark. He may be set to play on the third line today, but he could be on the top line with Michkov when all is said and done—it’s all a mystery.
Assuming Luchanko is a full-time member of the team, I think 35 points is a fair ask. Combined, rookies Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster scored at a rate of 34 points per 82 games last season. Though he is several years younger, Luchanko reaching those heights is plausible in my eyes. Due to the vast talent difference between netminders in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the NHL, scoring goals consistently may take some time for the 18-year-old. However, I am still confident that the offense will come.
From an analytics perspective, I figure he can outplay his opponents and thus be an on-ice asset. He was exactly that in the preseason with a 56.9 expected goal share at even strength and good metrics next to Brink and Joel Farabee (a potential line of his). The Brink-Farabee duo played a lot together last season but they didn’t have a center to put it all together—Luchanko could be that missing piece.
Expectations shouldn’t be sky-high for Luchanko, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be one of the team’s better players in his rookie campaign. One of the youngest NHL players ever due to being a mid-August birthday, he has the chance to show his 99th percentile maturity for his age.
