It’s been a slightly arduous start to the season for Jett Luchanko, but things are finally getting back on the right track for him.
Luchanko stuck around through a long training camp to earn a spot with the Flyers to start the season, and despite showing some offensive flashes and holding up better physically than one might have expected from a barely 18-year old player in the best league in the world, it also became pretty quickly apparent that he was overmatched in this league. So the Flyers made the difficult decision to send him back to Guelph of the OHL to continue his season, to develop in easier minutes, and hopefully score a boatload of points along the way.
And it’s been a fine but not stellar start to the season in Guelph for Luchanko — he picked up his first point of the season right away in his season debut with them, but then was held without a point in his next two games played. We were beginning to wonder when Luchanko was going to take off, how long it would take for him to get going, and it’s looking like the answer to that might well be tonight’s game against Brantford.
Luchanko finally picked up his first goal of the season on perhaps the most Jett Luchanko play ever — being the first to jump on the loose puck on a turnover, using his speed to create some separation from the defenders as he skates in on goal, and then ultimately freezing the goaltender and beating him cleanly with a quick shot.
Luchanko added to his points total for the game, picking up an assist on his next shift, creating the primary feed on the power play after a nice bit of shifty maneuvering about in the offensive zone. This meant he factored in on two of the Storm’s four goals on the evening, an effort which earned him a first star of the game honor. Not too shabby at all.
Now, it’s going to be a long season for Luchanko, and we can expect to see some ups and downs, especially on a team like Guelph which is dwelling in the basement of the league standings. Things might change for him if he’s moved to a contender deeper in the season, but in the meantime, in his time with the Storm, it’s nice to see him getting rolling and making the most of the situation he’s in.