'I'll Be Ready': Jett Luchanko Ready for Any Role in 2025

For the second straight season, Flyers’ center prospect Jett Luchanko had made the team out of training camp. The 2024 13th overall draft pick surprised many when he made the Flyers’ last season. It came as a surprise that Luchanko was even the pick at 13, let alone making the roster, but he has since earned his keep.

Now, it’s far less of a surprise that he made the team out of camp in his second year in the Flyers’ system. Luchanko is a bit older and more mature, ready to make his mark on the team and in the league.

Last season, Luchanko only played in four NHL games before being loaned back to the Guelph Storm, his OHL team. This season, Flyers general manager Danny Briere is not ruling out that same destination for Luchanko.

Briere on Luchanko

“Nothing is set in stone. He has to keep earning it; he has to keep playing well. He’s not the only one. It applies to everyone.” Briere continued by saying, “I know we make a big deal of the opening roster, but that doesn’t mean that you’re on the team forever. You’ve got to keep earning your ice time and your spot on the team. That’s the message to him and to every other player on the team.”

So, if his spot is not guaranteed, then what do the Flyers want for Luchanko? Briere made it clear that the organization just wants to do whatever is best for his development, whether that means more NHL time, being around to practice with the team, or even a return to the OHL.

“You know, Jett is a big part of our future,” Briere said. “We’re trying to give him some experience, but protect him at the same time, and trying to help him out along the way.”

When asked if there is a plan in place for Luchanko, Briere made it seem a lot of it is up in the air. It could go either way. It’ll mostly depend on his play, but there are other factors.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. A lot of it will be his play. Part of it will be how the team is going.”

What Does He Need to Show to Stay in Philadelphia

“He has to earn his spot, so there’s no guarantee that he’s gonna play every single night. That’s going to be up to Tocc (Rick Tocchet) to decide,” Said Briere on Luchanko’s development plan. “We’re gonna have some discussions, and at the end of the day, the one thing that’s going to keep coming back when we discuss is, what’s the best plan for Jett?”

So, what does Flyers’ head coach Rick Tocchet have in mind? The team’s bench boss recognizes that the rule keeping Luchanko out of the AHL is making this much more complicated than it needs to be.

For the second straight season, their options are to keep him in the NHL or send him back to the OHL, which will likely do him no more good.

“It can’t be a steady diet of it not playing. You know, you’ve got to be careful,” said Tocchet. “You can’t have guys sitting around too much. So we have to figure that out, but for the first couple of weeks, we’ll see how it goes.”

Tocchet continued and said, “You know, you can’t have a kid like that sit on four or five games. But you also want, when he’s playing, for him to have the confidence to play in these types of games. I don’t want him to lose confidence.”

From the sound of it, Luchanko won’t get a steady diet of games, but he won’t sit for too long either. It seems like spot starts to build confidence and show that he can play in this league, while also getting a chance to watch and learn, is what is coming for Luchanko.

For now, Luchanko will have to take things day by day and continue to prove that he can keep up with the NHL game without hindering his development.

Luchanko’s Thoughts

It’s not a small feat for a 19-year-old to make an NHL roster out of camp for a second time. Many 19-year-olds would be ecstatic to be named to an opening night roster. For Luchanko, it’s business as usual.

When asked how it feels to make the Flyers out of camp two years in a row, the rookie center said, “It feels great, it’s what I came here to do. Obviously, it’s a good feeling, but at the same time, it’s just the start of all the hard work ahead.”

It did not always seem likely that he would make the team out of camp. Dealing with an injury, Luchanko missed all of rookie camp. That led to a slow start to training camp, which dragged into the preseason. Coming into camp as a favorite to make the roster, Luchanko was suddenly toward the bottom of the bubble.

However, all it took was some time for him to get his footing. After Luchanko got settled, you could see the steady improvement.

“It took me a little bit to kind of get my feet wet and get into it. I was settling things in the summer and trying to figure out my body a bit, so I was able to kind of get better as it (camp) went along,” said Luchanko.

Luchanko Ready for Whatever

Being as young as he is, Luchanko is mature. He understands that he has to fight to stay on the team even though he was named to it. The young center knows he needs to do whatever he is called to do, and he is ok with it.

“Yeah, I think whatever it is they want me to do, I’ll be ready for and I have no issue with that,” Said Luchanko. That could be playing every day. It could be getting spot starts and spending time in the press box in between. Whatever the Flyers throw Luchanko’s way, the 19-year-old is ready.

Now, Luchanko faces what he can do personally to ensure he remains with the team beyond the nine-game try. When asked by Philly Hockey Now if he has any goals in the short term to help his case to stay on the roster past the nine-game trial, Luhcanko said, “No, I have no real goals. It’s just to come to the rink every day and try my best, and I think good things will come from that.”

For now, Luchanko will continue to show up and work hard during his second stint with the Philadelphia Flyers.

‘I’ll Be Ready’: Jett Luchanko Ready for Any Role in 2025

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