Flyers Forwards Escape Waivers, Assigned to AHL… For Now

After the surprising news of Jett Luchanko making the NHL roster, the Philadelphia Flyers saw lightning strike twice as forwards Anthony Richard and Olle Lycksell both went unclaimed on waivers on Saturday afternoon.

The consensus heading into training camp, and throughout training camp, was that Lycksell and Richard would be battling it out for an NHL roster spot to become the Flyers’ 14th forward. As it turned out, neither of them won that spot.

Instead, Luchanko, 18, took it out from under their noses.

There were some concerns that, after impressive preseasons from both players, one or both of Lycksell and Richard would be claimed by another NHL team on waivers. I can personally say that, at each Flyers preseason game at home, there were scouts from other teams in attendance.

Off the top of my head, the New York Islanders, Washington Capitals, and Vegas Golden Knights were among the teams in attendance at Wells Fargo Center.

Vegas eventually signed veteran forward Tanner Pearson, who was with them on a professional tryout offer, to a one-year contract anyway.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who are currently in their preseason and training camp, are suddenly deep at the forward position, which is only good news to the Flyers. Lycksell, Richard, Oscar Eklind, and Rodrigo Abols will be able to support the younger forwards, such as Samu Tuomaala, Massimo Rizzo, Elliot Desnoyers, Alexis Gendron, and J.R. Avon.

Whether Lycksell or Richard return to the Flyers after a few weeks, however, remains to be seen.

If Luchanko plays 10 or more games with Philadelphia in the NHL this season, he will burn one year off his entry-level contract, which may not be considered to be a wise move since the contract can “slide” for two years.

In the event that Luchanko is returned to the Guelph Storm of the OHL, the door will open for one of Lycksell or Richard to come back up.

And at the moment, there seems to be a strong likelihood that this is how the situation will play out.