Jett Luchanko blasted a breakaway goal on Thursday night to match last season’s total.
There aren’t a lot of things going the Philadelphia Flyers’ way right now, but there is some hope on the horizon.
Top prospect Jett Luchanko scored his 20th goal of the season for the OHL’s Guelph Storm on Thursday night and it was a thing of beauty.
Luchanko turned on the jets and fired a slapshot past the netminder for the eventual game-winning goal for the Storm. He also added an assist on the shorthanded empty-net goal in the 6-4 victory.
The 2024 13th overall pick now has 20 goals and 33 assists for 53 points in just 44 games. He’s matched last season’s goal total in 24 fewer games — he also had 54 assists for 74 total points in 68 games last year.
Luchanko was impressive in training camp and earned a short tryout on the Flyers to begin the season. He didn’t pick up any points in his four games but there is still time for the first-round pick to get on an NHL scoresheet this season.
Luchanko’s OHL season ends this weekend with games against the Owen Sound and Kitchener Rangers. Guelph was the worst team in the Western Conference and did not qualify for the playoffs so the Flyers can get their hands on their top prospect earlier than they may have thought.
I wouldn’t expect Luchanko to join the Flyers immediately following the OHL season, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they want to give him another handful of games at the NHL level. The Flyers’ lack of center depth is concerning and they’re already penciling him in for next season; why not give him a look now?
It certainly couldn’t hurt to see how Luchanko and Matvei Michkov mesh on a line together in what are meaningless games for the Flyers.
Luchanko could also report to the Phantoms, who are in the hunt for a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Lehigh Valley recently got some reinforcements in the form of Nikita Grebenkin and there could be a few other prospects turning pro at the end of the season.
Nevertheless, Luchanko has been a bright spot this season and he’ll be here sooner than we think. It’ll be refreshing to see a speedy skilled center even if it’s only for a few games.
We recently watched every shift of one of Luchanko’s games to get a closer look at what he could bring to the Flyers.
