March 27, 2025
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
Jett Luchanko got an NHL trial run with the Flyers at the beginning of the season before he was sent back to juniors.
Jett Luchanko has been reassigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the remainder of the AHL season, the Flyers announced Thursday.
The top center prospect and 13th overall draft pick from last summer will be available to play for the Phantoms' road game against the Belleville Senators on Friday, the organization added.
Luchanko, still just 18 years old, is a quick skater who plays with a skill and maturity level that the Flyers desperately need up the middle.
He did make the team out of training camp and was given a look to begin the season, but was ultimately sent back to his OHL junior team in Guelph before his nine-game trial run was up and his entry-level contract kicked in.
Luchanko held his own in his first taste of the NHL, but the explanation from now former head coach John Tortorella at the time was that the Flyers didn't want to lean on him so soon to save them while they were struggling in other major areas.
So, Luchanko went back to juniors with a clear to-do list of what to work on in his game. He scored 21 goals (topping his OHL career-best from the year before by 1) and notched 35 assists for 56 points across 46 games, which were 22 fewer games compared 2023-24 campaign when accounting for his stint with the Flyers and his run with Team Canada at World Juniors.
Guelph went on to miss the OHL playoffs, but as a result, Luchanko became free to go play for the Phantoms.
He can contribute toward their playoff push, and because his junior team is done for the year, he can also do so to the Flyers' benefit of not starting the clock on his entry-level contract.
The re-assignment also brings Luchanko back to within a level of the NHL again, and should line him up to try and make the Flyers for good coming into camp next summer.
Transaction: We have reassigned forward Jett Luchanko from the Guelph Storm (OHL) to the @LVPhantoms (AHL). pic.twitter.com/Ltzdq2DnHD
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 27, 2025
The Phantoms are also gaining wing prospect Alex Ciernik from overseas on an amateur tryout contract, which is also for the remainder of the AHL season.
The 20-year-old Slovakian speedster scored 11 goals and 23 points in 46 games playing in Sweden's tier-2 pro league, HockeyAllsvenskan, and was a Flyers prospect with rising stock until a recent string of injuries derailed him a bit.
Ciernik was a fourth-round draft pick by the Flyers in 2023.
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