For a second-straight year, Jett Luchanko’s time with the Philadelphia Flyers is cut short after only four appearances. Earlier today, Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reported that the Flyers would be assigning Luchanko to the OHL’s Guelph Storm today, and Philadelphia subsequently confirmed the news.
Luchanko’s reassignment can’t be described as anything other than disappointing for the Flyers. The team drafted Luchanko with the 13th overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, and he surprisingly made the team’s roster out of training camp last year.
Still, with little expectations of him sticking around, the team assigned him to OHL Guelph after going scoreless in four games with a -3 rating. He was mostly productive in his return to Guelph, scoring 21 goals and 56 points in 46 games as the team’s captain. Unfortunately, the Storm finished with a 21-38-5-4 record, missing out on the playoffs.
After another year of growth, Luchanko again made the Flyers’ roster out of training camp, this time under a new head coach. This time around, his performance was arguably worse.
Again being reassigned after four games, Luchanko again went scoreless with a -3 rating. He averaged nearly five minutes less a night under Rick Tocchet, primarily centering the team’s fourth line when in the lineup. Despite being reassigned today, Luchanko hasn’t suited up for Philadelphia since October 20th.
There was some concern earlier in the year about returning him to Guelph, largely because the team wasn’t expected to be competitive this year. However, although it’s still relatively early in the 2025-26 campaign, the Storm are 6-5-2-0 through their first 13 games, holding onto the final playoff spot in the OHL’s Western Conference.
Luchanko made it apparent that he’s not ready for much responsibility at the NHL level. Although he is likely better suited for developmental time in the AHL, he has not yet reached the age where that is permissible. Still, given that the team signed Tocchet to a multi-year deal this offseason, there might be some concern about Luchanko’s overall future in the organization, given his subpar first impression.
Meanwhile Buium has 8 points in 10 games…
and is a team leading -8 .. playing over five minutes per of PP time .. and zero PK minutes.. with basically all his assists on kaprizov goals.. turnstile on defense
Buium reminds me of the 2008 draft when Flyers GM Paul Holmgren traded the 27th pick overall to the Caps in return for the unremarkable Steve Eminger and a third round pick. The Caps used the 27th overall pick to select John Carlson. History repeating itself?
Jett is a very good skater….but that’s about it. Everyone in the scouting world was surprised he came out so early. He was ranked late in the first round or early in the second round. One day Jett will play in the NHL and he will be a utility player.
Taken 20-30 spots before he should have been by an inept organization and the expectations are too high.