VOORHEES, N.J. – If Jett Luchanko is as composed on the ice as he is off it, the Flyers have nothing to worry about.
Not long after learning on Monday morning he had made the opening game roster for a second straight season, the 19-year-old center wasn’t exactly throwing confetti up in the air.
Instead, he wore the look of a confident young man who believes his second time around will be more successful than his first, which lasted only four games at the start of the 2024-25 season.
Officially he has up to nine games to prove he can stick in the NHL and that’s the target he wants to reach and skate past.
“It feels great,” he said after practice at the Flyers Training Center. “This is what I came here to do. It’s a good feeling but at the same time it’s just the start of the hard work ahead.”
The 2024 first-round (13th overall) draft pick also got into nine games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last season, so combine that with the Flyers’ stint and Luchanko got a pretty good taste of what the pro game is all about.
Luchanko missed rookie camp for health considerations and got off to a somewhat slow start in preseason action. But as things went along, his game picked up.
“It took me a little bit to get my feet wet,” the 5-foot-11, 180-pound native of London, Ontario said. “Just tried to get my body better this summer.”
As general manager Daniel Briere said at an earlier press briefing, with young players, nothing is given. Luchanko is getting the message.
“Just come in and do your best everyday,” he said. “That’s all you can do. Trying to treat everyday as a day to get better.”
Coach Rick Tocchet sees potential in Luchanko. The question is how he’s going to play the rookie. Tocchet didn’t rule out the possibility of “spot starting” Luchanko is different games rather than just playing him one game after another.
On the other hand, you don’t want a teenager who’s trying to learn the pro game just sitting around for long stretches either.
“I think for the first couple weeks you’re OK with that,” the coach said. “It can’t be a steady diet of it, not playing. It’s too bad about that rule (must go back to junior after nine games if not on the pro roster). Can’t play in the minors, have to send him to junior.
“We’re stuck in that situation a little bit. For the first couple weeks, we’ll see how it goes down. You can’t have a kid like that sitting out for four or five games. You don’t want him to lose confidence.”
Tocchet said he had not made any decisions on a final roster for the Florida game.
>Zegras fitting in
Trevor Zegras wasn’t thrilled about losing his spot at center for Anaheim, so that might have played into the trade which brought him here from the Ducks.
So far, Zegras has been back in the middle for the most part.
“It’s an inch-by-inch process,” Tocchet said. “Last game against Jersey, there were some coverages where he wasn’t in the right spot. He’s still trying to learn. We have to allow for that.”
>Monday practice lines
These were the forward lines at Monday’s practice:
Christian Dvorak-Sean Couturier-Matvei Michkov
Owen Tippett-Trevor Zegras-Travis Konecny
Tyson Foerster-Noah Cates-Bobby Brink
Nic Deslauriers-Rodrigo Abols-Garnet Hathaway
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