For the second straight year, the Philadelphia Flyers let Jett Luchanko stick around, and for the second straight year, he's going back to juniors. At some point, you need to ask yourself, "When are the Flyers just going to do the right thing and stop flip-flopping on Luchanko?"
So far in his NHL career, Luchanko has played in eight games, producing zero points and a minus-6 rating. He's averaged 11:31 of ice time, with just 8:58 coming this season, indicating he clearly wasn't ready for the NHL's demands.
How bad did it get for Luchanko so far? At even strength, he's averaged a career 42.5 Corsi For percentage despite 56.7 percent of all his starts coming in the offensive zone, a 3.6 on-ice shooting percentage, and an on-ice save percentage of 81.1.
Flip-flopping on a prospect is the best way for the Flyers to crush his confidence
Not only the Flyers, but any NHL team. That said, you can see why the Flyers might want to keep giving Luchanko chances. He was the captain of his junior team, the Guelph Storm, in 2024-25, and he put up 56 points and 21 goals in 46 regular season games.
Those are elite-caliber numbers. He also joined the Flyers' AHL squad, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, for nine regular-season games and logged another three assists before recording six assists in seven playoff matchups. But at age 19, he's still not eligible to play in the AHL full-time, and that would have been the best situation for him as it seems like he's too good for junior hockey.
The Flyers still shouldn't rush Luchanko come 2026-27
Next season, Luchanko will be eligible to play for the Phantoms full-time, and the Flyers should take advantage. They figure to be a more competitive team in 2026-27, so that should mean less pressure on what they should do with Luchanko.
It will also be easier for him to float back and forth between Philadelphia and the Phantoms. If the Flyers don't feel he's ready to join the big club for an 82-game stretch, he can stick around with Lehigh Valley and improve his game until Philadelphia may need him for a call-up.
As for 2025-26, this entire episode didn't need to happen if the Flyers just asked themselves what was best for the player and the team. That would have involved him starting and likely ending the year with the Storm and playing for the Phantoms once the OHL season ended.