What if the Experts are Wrong About Luchanko?

If you listened to the "experts" this past July, the Flyers had the worst draft of the NHL. Nobody thought much of the Jett Luchanko pick. Some felt he could be a second-rounder, but not a first-rounder. Many were screaming for Konsta Helenius and were outraged that the Flyers didn't make that selection.

Despite this, others felt this pick might be much better than first expected. Suppose you compare Helenius and Luchanko. In that case, Luchanko has the better junior league stats (20 goals for the Guelph Storm last year vs 14 goals for Jukurit Mikkeli in Finland's Liga).

Many times, however, the experts are wrong. Ask the Avalanche if they'd like to redo the 2012 first-overall pick of Nail Yakupov. Or, perhaps would St Louis take back their first overall selection of Erik Johnson and choose Jordan Staal, Jonathan Toews, or Claude Giroux instead?

While the Flyers haven't selected high up too often in their storied career (that's a good thing), recent first-round disappointments include Jay O'Brien and German Rubtsov. This doesn't include those hampered by injuries, like Nolan Patrick and Sam Morin. Heck, even former Flyer Alexander Daigle was viewed as a can't-miss prospect. It's because he "missed' that he, briefly...and yet for too long, became a Flyer.

Could the Flyers have a better draft selection than most think?

Flyers general manager Daniel Briere is a smart guy. He had a long, successful career in the NHL. He was the 24th overall pick in 1996. Likewise, he has surrounded himself with other top former NHL stars like John LeClair (33rd overall in the 2nd round in 1987), Keith Jones (seventh round in 1988), and Patrick Sharp (third round in 2001). All of these players have had varying levels of success in the NHL. Some have their name engraved on the Stanley Cup or have been on teams with deep postseason runs. They've played alongside some of the best players that the game has ever seen. such as Eric Lindros, Mark Recchi, Patrick Kane, and Toews.

Briere and the Flyers admin have seen a thing or two. They know how to spot a good player. With the Flyers' future having so many question marks, it's hard to think they'd gamble that future on a questionable player. Perhaps they've seen something everyone else missed. Perhaps they saw in Luchanko a player who suddenly clicked and turned it on. After all Noah Cates was a fifth-round pick and is seen as an integral part of this team's future.

Let's wait to see what Luchanko does when training camp opens. Who knows, he could surprise everyone and be ready to hit the ice at the Wells Fargo Center this season. Most likely, he'll need some seasoning in the OHL or AHL first. However, if he is as good as advertised, the Flyers could be seen as geniuses for nabbing him when they did. The Flyers could use a center. If he can handle a puck as well as he did in the OHL, he could easily be feeding passes to Matvei Michkov and Owen Tippett.

As an aside, there were quite a few people who thought the draft pick of Oliver Bonk in 2023 was a waste of a pick. He is now seen as one of the brightest spots in the Flyers' prospect pipeline. Maybe Briere knows what he is doing after all. Perhaps he sees something we don't. It could be the experts are wrong. If that is true, then the Flyers' future could be brighter than we expect.