Jett Luchanko turned heads by becoming the youngest player in Philadelphia Flyers history to suit up for the franchise when he did so at 18 years and 51 days old.
But through three games, the Guelph Storm product is still searching for his first point. It was a surprise to see the 2024 first-round pick make the team out of training camp.
But now, decisions about where he’ll play the rest of the year will need to be made sooner rather than later. Do they hold him past the nine-game mark and have his entry-level contract kick in immediately? Or do they play the patient game and send him back to the OHL with a chance to play at the World Juniors?
Insider Frank Seravalli discussed the topic with Tyler Yaramechuk on the latest edition of Ice Breakers on Daily Faceoff Live:
Tyler Yaremchuk: “It is quite the story to see Jett Luchanko break the Flyers’ roster as an 18-year-old. He played his third game of the season on Thursday night. They’re heading back to Philadelphia for their season opener. And obviously everyone’s looking down the road and going, ‘Oh, when’s that nine game mark for Luchanko?’. Any insight into the Flyers’ plan for the first-round pick?
Frank Seravalli: “Well, the most intriguing part to me over the last 24 to 48 hours was listening to John Tortorella. And if you’ve watched their behind-the-scenes, you’ve seen how excited he’s been and pushing for Jett Luchanko to be part of this team. And that’s great.
“But really, what the Flyers brass in Keith Jones and Danny Briere are thinking about and what they’re talking about right now is, is this best for the long-term future of Jett Luchanko? He’s lived up to his name, providing the speed. He’s certainly given this team a shot in the arm in terms of energy. He has a ton of upside but it’s an 82-game slog. When you know that the only options are NHL or OHL, is that the best course of action? Typically I would say no. But I can tell you – and what I’m passing along in terms of the insider nugget – is what the Flyers are debating. And which is what a lot of teams end up debating at this point is what if we, isn’t it so much better to have our control over his development process, as opposed to just handing him off to Guelph or the OHL and saying, ‘Here, you develop our star talent that we’re looking for so many big things for.'”
“It’s a push and a pull, and it’s a difficult decision to make. It’s too early to say which way they’re leaning yet, but I do think the idea of them having their own hands on his development is certainly a really attractive thing for the Flyers.”
Tyler Yaremchuk: “I do think the only thing that can sometimes be a little dangerous is that the Seattle Kraken attempted to do that with Shane Wright. And it ended up just being him getting jerked around, and all these conditioning stints and the World Juniors. It ended up getting kind of weird and awkward for a bit.”
Frank Seravalli: “Yeah. And I think that’s exactly what they want to try and avoid. So I think maybe just patience is key. And maybe that’s why you see him not play back-to-backs. Maybe if you can drag this out long enough before making a decision, the answer will come to you.”
You can watch the full episode down below:
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