Luchanko hopes to help Flyers with their need at center

VOORHEES, N.J. – Almost every time Flyers general manager Daniel Briere is asked about his team’s perceived lack of depth at center and some possible solutions, the first name he mentions is Jett Luchanko.

Some of that might have to do with the fact Luchanko, a first-round pick (13th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft, surprised nearly everyone by making the opening night roster last fall.

The young center would go on to play in a four-game trial with Philadelphia before he was returned to his junior team, the Guelph Storm.

It was a productive year. After registering 21 goals/56 points in 46 games in the Ontario Hockey League, he joined the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the end of the season and played all seven games against the Hershey Bears in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs, with six assists for the series.

At this year’s training camp, there’s a chance he could be challenging for a spot on the Flyers’ roster, just as he did last year.

He made the big team just a few months after he was drafted. Why not a repeat performance in September’s training camp?

“I think for me it’s been the same with every team I’ve tried out for in my life,” he said after a Saturday development camp workout at the Flyers Training Center. “Just work my hardest and see what happens.”

He indicated tenures with both the Flyers and the Phantoms last year were worthwhile.

“It (the four-game trial) was a good experience overall,” said Luchanko.

Luchenko, a London, Ontario native, was asked what the biggest takeaway was from playing with those two professional outfits.

“Just how hard everyone works,” he said. “And how serious everyone takes it. Guys really put in the work when they come to the rink everyday. That’s probably the biggest experience I took from it.”

Luchanko doesn’t turn 19 until Aug. 21, so there’s still the sense that there’s still some growing to do, both on his 5-foot-11, 180-pound frame as well as the overall maturity factor.

Yet the fact the Flyers thought he was far enough along in that department to let him start four NHL games last season says something about his overall emotional/mental development.

As for things to work on, Luchanko nodded his head to acknowledge the worthiness of the question.

“I think just trying to stay consistent,” he said. “Doing things off-ice and on the ice to perform the best you can every day.”

A former soccer player, Luchanko is a bit of a fitness buff. The Flyers confirm he’s one of the fittest individuals in the organization.

“There’s never a time when I can be satisfied with where I’m at,” he said. “There are always improvements to be made. All around, just get better at everything.”

Luchanko has been slowed a bit in this camp by a groin injury but it hasn’t been enough to keep him off his skates.

“Just trying to do what I can to get better,” he said. “I don’t think it will be an issue at all going forward.”

Luchanko roomed with former Flyers defenseman Erik Johnson at last year’s training camp. It was a helpful experience. Johnson won a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022, has played more than 1,000 games in the NHL and was willing to share his hockey expertise.

“He was really fun to live with,” Luchanko recalled. “The biggest thing was just how much he loves being at the rink. Even if he wasn’t playing he wanted to take warmups and be around the guys.

“The guys around here miss him so much. So it was really cool to live with him and see how much he loves it.”