In the 2024 NHL Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers made one of the more surprising picks of the class by taking center Jett Luchanko with their 13th overall selection. Despite freshly being an 18-year-old and thus one of the youngest players affiliated with an NHL club, there’s a real chance he could compete for a roster spot with the Flyers. His performances specifically in the month of September suggest he might end up on the final roster, even though it’s not likely at this moment.
Luchanko’s Play So Far & What He Can Provide
I’m far from the first person to suggest Luchanko could be ready for the NHL in 2024-25, but I’ve compiled my own reasoning here. Let’s take a look at his play early on.
In both his preseason for the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and his Rookie Series debut against the New York Rangers’ prospects on Sept. 13, one of Luchanko’s best traits was getting to pucks. Whether it was between the skates of a defender or he was at the right place at the right time to come away with a turnover, he forced a change of possession very often. In those instances specifically in the Flyers’ Rookie Series contest, he created countless high-danger looks for his teammates.
On top of his ability to create dangerous chances out of pretty innocent plays, Luchanko has elite speed. That was one of his standout traits in the draft, and he has certainly displayed it in the early stages of his 2024-25 play. Plus, he was involved defensively with some key zone exits as well as penalty-kill usage.
Lastly, Luchanko (No. 17) is an intelligent playmaker. He tends to find the best options, which included Matvei Michkov’s (No. 39) first tally as a Flyer in the aforementioned Rookie Series. Luchanko can shoot, but he excels when he’s setting up other players for chances. He showed some great chemistry with Michkov specifically, which is worth noting.
MATVEI. MICHKOV. #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/imaFTVyvvR
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) September 14, 2024
Barring injury, it seems as though Luchanko is set to dominate the OHL if he stays in juniors. He has a similar career trajectory points-wise to star center Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues, who was elite in the OHL after being drafted and then became a full-time NHLer at 19—if that’s the model, Luchanko is already close speaking historically.
In the NHL, Luchanko’s upside is a playmaking threat down the middle with blazing speed and a defensive presence. My guess is that he’d slot on the third line if he were to make the Flyers’ roster, which would give the team a spark as players like Michkov, Travis Konecny, and Owen Tippett rest on the bench. The Orange and Black need firepower, and this teenage center has the tools to meet that criteria.
How Luchanko Can Earn a Spot
Luchanko has been excellent in September so far. It’ll take a larger sample size for him to prove he’s ready, but it’s worth noting that he was quite easily the team’s best non-Michkov forward on Sept. 13 versus the Rangers, at least in my eyes. Prospects like Samu Tuomaala and Massimo Rizzo, who are set to play professionally in the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2024-25 and perhaps make the NHL club at some point soon, were fairly good but still not on Luchanko’s level. Michkov was a massive aid here, but these two mutually benefitted from one another.
The 18-year-old is certain to get some looks in training camp and the preseason, which will be his next step toward making the team. He seemingly fixes a lot of the Flyers’ issues, so that’s his path. However, it’ll be a battle.
Let’s say Luchanko theoretically makes the team. If he’s just a third-line center and not really productive, he’d probably be better off in the OHL. He has offensive talent, but he might lean on his defensive game more in the NHL, thus limiting his upside. The last thing you want is to put a player in a situation where they aren’t gaining anything—that’s the risk. I’m confident he could be a decent player with an average ice time somewhere in the mid-teens, but is that really better than being a top-line center in juniors? That’s for the Flyers to answer, and that’s assuming he shows out in the preseason.
Still, it’s important to note that making the team isn’t impossible. Besides the goaltending, the Flyers’ biggest issue last season was their center depth. Once Sean Couturier’s play started to regress (almost certainly due to his injury), it was a disaster down the middle. Luchanko is one of the more talented players in the organization already and could help mitigate this problem in the future—it’s something to consider. Getting some NHL experience on top of being a genuine asset seems reasonable enough.
If Luchanko were to make the Flyers, it’s plausible that it’d be a nine-game stint (so a year isn’t burned off of his entry-level contract) to see what the team has. If he’s good, he’d stay in Philadelphia as long as that’s the case. If not, he’d be sent back down to the OHL to continue his season there—this might not be the worst idea as long as he earns the opportunity to get at least an NHL trial period.
If Luchanko proves that he is ready for the next step, he should probably at least get a quick look. From what I saw during his preseason over there, he is objectively better than even the top-tier OHL players. If he hangs with the NHL guys in the coming weeks and emerges as one of the Flyers’ top performers, he might be ready for that extra challenge.
Who Would Come Out of the Flyers’ Lineup?
Of course, for Luchanko to be in the Flyers’ lineup, someone would have to come out. I think Nicolas Deslauriers will be used situationally by head coach John Tortorella, so he’s probably not an everyday type of player. To me, it’d be between (but not limited to) Scott Laughton, Bobby Brink, and perhaps Morgan Frost—I’ll look at each of their cases individually.
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I’ll get Frost out of the way here and say that I don’t think taking him out would benefit the team. But he’s had run-ins with Tortorella which has led to some time in the press box. If he struggles to start the season, it’d be justified to take him out for Luchanko. However, taking him out for multiple games based on a singular subpar performance like last season would probably harm the team at the end of the day.
Now, I’ll get to Laughton. Even though he and Tortorella have a seemingly great relationship, taking out the 30-year-old center would probably be the right thing to do based on last season. He really, really struggled.
Flat-out, Laughton was unusable at even-strength play. He put up some pretty solid third-line metrics during his previous two campaigns, but 2023-24 was a rough one for him. He had some of the worst on-ice numbers in the entire NHL, which was magnified by the fact that he played an average of 15:39 of ice time each night over a full 82-game slate. This hurt the Orange and Black.
A lot of trade speculation surrounding Flyers forward Scott Laughton.
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) February 16, 2024
It would… well it would certainly be buying low. #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/oC7VMu26xy
Laughton has proven that he can be a good third-line center, but opportunities have to be earned in the NHL. If Luchanko is better than his veteran counterpart in the preseason (assuming both play), then an opening night lineup spot should go to the latter. It’s a fair premise, no?
Next, 23-year-old Bobby Brink would be on the chopping block. Much like Frost, the 5-foot-8 winger and Tortorella had their moments last season. But for him, it was probably more justified—his on-ice numbers were far closer to Laughton’s (not good) than Frost’s (good).
Brink is eyeing a bounce-back campaign. He produced 23 points in 57 games, but he’s a small winger who wasn’t the greatest defensively and wasn’t a particularly intimidating threat offensively. Because of this, Tortorella limited his ice time when the calendar year shifted from 2023 to 2024. This player and coach don’t have the best history, so he might be out of the lineup with some frequency.
More realistically, there wouldn’t be one player here singled out. One night, Frost could be out. The next, it could be Laughton. If someone else starts underperforming (including Luchanko himself), they’ll be taken out—this is a team, after all. This is what I project the offensive lineup to be with Luchanko in it:
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| Tyson Foerster | Sean Couturier | Matvei Michkov |
| Owen Tippett | Morgan Frost | Travis Konecny |
| Joel Farabee | Jett Luchanko | Bobby Brink |
| Noah Cates | Ryan Poehling | Garnet Hathaway |
| Nicolas Deslauriers | Scott Laughton |
I think there’s some leeway to sneak Luchanko in here as well as someone like Deslauriers or Laughton from time to time. Noah Cates can trade spots with either of the two last mentioned, and Ryan Poehling could do the same with Laughton in particular. Ultimately, it comes down to who’s playing the best at that specific time.
To be clear: I am by no means saying Luchanko has already made the team or that the Flyers would be wrong not to put him on the roster. But I am trying to spell out the benefits and how it could work. This is something seriously worth considering—only time will tell what happens. Besides Michkov seeing NHL ice for the first time, we’re in store for an exciting next couple of weeks.
