Oct 16, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Jett Luchanko (17) against the Winnipeg Jets at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
VOORHEES, N.J. -- The inevitable finally happened on Monday as the Flyers sent Jett Luchanko back to juniors - again.
The Flyers were in a bit of a pickle with Luchanko. The 19-year-old, by rule, isn't allowed to play in the AHL. So it's either he plays for the Flyers or he has to go back to his junior team - which is Guelph of the OHL.
The Flyers are trying to win now, and there isn't a spot for Luchanko in the top nine.
Skeptics will say that the Flyers had an abundance of centers who were always going to be ahead of Luchanko coming into the season, but the Flyers wanted to give him an opportunity to earn a spot.
"Keep in mind, other than Sean (Couturier) who has played his whole career in the middle, (Noah) Cates, (Trevor) Zegras, and (Christian) Dvorak can also play the wing," said Flyers G.M. Danny Briere. "So if he had come in and forced our hand, forced us to find a way into the top nine, it might be different. But we didn't feel he was quite ready for that role."
Flyers General Manager Daniel Briere met with the media on Monday from @FlyersTCenter. #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/MZd7JhUXa8
Briere added that he didn't like Luchanko's first week of training camp, but felt that was the result of coming back from an offseason injury. He said after that, his showed improvement, enough to make the team and see if he could find a spark.
And while he played responsibly on the defensive side of the puck, and occasionally flashed his elite speed, there was still a bigger learning curve on the offensive side of Luchanko's game that only can be fixed with repetition, and he wasn't going to get that playing eight minutes a night centering the fourth line.
"It sucks because he's in the mushy middle," Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. "Is it better for him to stay a little bit, practice and play in some games? It's hard. We want to set a culture where players play through their mistakes, but there are certain things that he has to just go play a lot and he can't do up here.
"Be more decisive with the puck. Have a shooter's mentality. Use his speed offensively and not just defensively. There are just reps. Would it be better at Lehigh? Yeah. But because the rule is what it is, he has to go somewhere where he can get settled and just play."
The Flyers thought about having him sit out five consecutive games and then being sent out on a conditioning assignment with the Phantoms - which is a loophole that exists - but it would only be for two weeks, and then he'd have to come back tot he NHL club thereafter.
"We looked into that," Briere said. "We would have had to wait another week, and then after that you're only allowed two weeks, but then you got to keep him on your roster too and that complicates things. There's all kinds of little things that were coming into play that just made it difficult. So we figured it was best to just send him back, have him go play heavy minutes and get ready for hopefully World Juniors."
Luchanko is expected to be a key piece of Team Canada for the World Junior Championships during the holiday season. Usually that selection camp starts around Dec. 10, but there have been rumblings that Canada may not do the selection camp and instead just pick the team and have the players report a little bit later.
That likely complicated things for the Flyers as well as that would have added another week or so of Luchanko not playing the kind of minutes the Flyers want him to play.
And if he's going to play World Juniors, the expectation is going to be that he plays a role requiring bigger minutes than he's been getting for the Flyers, so he would need time to get used to that - which he wouldn't get with the Flyers.
Might there be a concern that getting sent back to juniors from the NHL twice could be a blow to a young player's confidence?
Sure. But the Flyers believe Luchanko has the right makeup and support system to be able to accept the challenge.
Rodrigo Abols, who will now play the predominance of the fourth line center minutes for the Flyers with Luchanko gone, said Luchanko should enjoy his time in Juniors.
"You're playing junior hockey with your buddies and you got a family that takes care of you," Abols said. "They wash your clothes. They make your food. He should appreciate the chance he gets to (have that)."
All kidding aside, Luchanko is going to play a lot of minutes, but there is also hope that they won't all be for Guelph.
Hear from Head Coach Rick Tocchet following Monday's practice from @FlyersTCenter. #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/ZaCDqYbeoD
The Storm are a mediocre OHL team this season, and they are one of two finalists hoping to host the Memorial Cup tournament in 2027.
The Memorial Cup is a four-team championship tournament between the champions of the OHL, QMJHL, WHL and the host team.
The CHL, which is the governing body of the Canadian junior leagues, will announce the host at the end of November. It's between Guelph and Kitchener.
If it's Guelph, their ownership, which includes former NHLer Scott Walker, will want to field as competitive a team as possible. To go from middling to good, the Storm could try to trade Luchanko to a contender this year and get a bunch of assets in return.
Having a former NHLer in Walker as a co-owner and Team President as well as a former NHLer as a coach (Cory Stillman), the Storm may well identify that it's best for them to reap the benefits of a trade of Luchanko for the purpose of that round-robin championship in the Spring of 2027.
So, keep an eye out for news about who is the 2027 Memorial Cup host. If it's Guelph, there's a better chance of them cashing in on Luchanko's value to make their team better for next season.
Don't miss Snow The Goalie, live at Chickie's and Pete's every Wednesday at 6PM. The show will broadcast from a different Chickie's and Pete's location every week throughout the Flyers season. The next show (10/29) will be at Chickie's and Pete's of Drexel Hill, 5035 Township Line Rd., Upper Darby, PA.
