By Bill Meltzer philadelphiaflyers.com
May 11, 2025
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Jett Luchanko is still just 18 years old. The Flyers’ 2024 first-round pick will not celebrate his 19th birthday until a few weeks before his second NHL training camp.
Luchanko already has four games of NHL experience to his credit. Before returning to the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm, he parlayed a strong 2024 training camp into a spot on the Flyers’ opening-night roster. Later, he secured a spot for Team Canada at the 2024-25 World Junior Championships.
Currently, Luchanko is with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the duration of their Calder Cup playoff run. On Sunday, the Phantoms face a winner-takes-all fifth match against the Hershey Bears in the Atlantic Division semifinal.
The series is tied at two wins apiece. The Bears are the two-time defending Calder Cup champions. Todd Nelson’s squad, which one again finished in first place in the Atlantic during the regular season, holds an on-paper edge as well as home ice advantage.
For his part, however, Luchanko is not nervous about the prospect of playing the farm team’s biggest game of the season. Rather, he looks at the series as a valuable opportunity. Luchanko’s Ontario Hockey League team in Guelph missed the playoffs. Canada lost in the medal round quarterfinals at the World Juniors.
Now, the teenage center and the Phantoms have the chance to reach the penultimate round of the Eastern Conference segment of the Calder Cup playoffs. Even a 6-4 loss at PPL Center on Friday did not diminish Luchanko’s focus on the big picture.
“It’s great to be able to play some meaningful hockey,” Luchanko said after Friday’s game. “It’s been a fun time so far.”
Luchanko’s three standout traits on the ice: 1) His far-about-average speed (“Jett” is aptly named), 2) His ice vision and playmaking ability, 3) His exceptional two-way awareness as a teenage player.
Luchanko’s unusual level of on-ice maturity extends off the ice. He projects the demeanor and perspective of a veteran, rather than a player who narrowly got under the birthdate wire for the 2024 Draft. If he’d been born three weeks later, Luchanko would have had to wait until 2025 to be Drafted.
In the Phantoms’ first round mini-series against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Luchanko had little difficulty finding time and space to make plays. He racked up four assists in two games as the Phantoms quickly swept the best-of-three set.
It’s been a different story in the second round for Luchanko and linemate Alex Bump. Thus far, Luchanko has one point (0g, 1a) through four games. Bump is still seeking his first point since opening the playoffs with a two-goal effort against the Baby Pens.
In the current series, there have been segments of games in which the Phantoms have been able to generate pressure. However, for sustained stretches, Lehigh Valley has had to battle for real estate. The power play has had trouble (1-for-18) in particular.
Luchanko expected nothing different based on the Bears’ reputation. However, he relishes the challenge.
“They’re a really good team, a tight-checking team,” Luchanko said. “It’s fun to be able to go up against them and kind of see what they bring.”
Luchanko has enjoyed the instant chemistry he’s found in playing with Bump. The two players seem to balance off each other, both on and off the ice. Bump is a speedy playmaker. Bump is a pure shooter. Western Michigan product Bump is gregarious whereas Luchanko is a bit quieter and more measured.
Throughout the season, Luchanko tried to focus on shooting the puck more often. Doing so involves a bit of a mental shift. However, first and foremost, Luchanko has a playmaker’s mentality. He will hold onto the puck and, if a lane opens, try first to thread the needle to a teammate.
In frequently centering Bump, Luchanko has looked first to distribute the puck to his shoot-first teammate. If Bump finds a seam, Luchanko tries to deliver a pass in the wheelhouse.
“He’s a really good player,” Luchanko said. “He’s a scorer.”
The third member of the line, at least periodically: veteran Phantoms captain Garrett Wilson. It’s the rugged Wilson’s role to try to create some operating room for his young linemates. Wilson’s also tasked with making sure opponents do not take liberties on the rookies.
Off the ice, veterans such as Wilson and Louie Belpedio have tried to help the new arrivals get acclimated to the AHL. Luchanko expressed his appreciation on Friday, as did Bump.
“Everyone’s been great here, really welcoming. It’s been a fun time so far,” Luchanko said.
Luchanko hopes his playoff run keeps going beyond this weekend. However, he already knows what he plans to do when his offseason comes. After taking a brief respite to visit family and friends in London, Ontario, he plans to quickly get into his offseason training.
“I just want to work on everything,” he said.
Basically, Luchanko wants to pick up focusing on things that general manager Daniel Briere and Flyers developmental coaches suggested he take with him in Guelph this past regular season.
“Work on all areas of my game and more offensively, as well. That was my goal when I went back. I was trying to hold onto pucks more, things like that. Trying to work on my shot, as well,” Luchanko said.
Due to the AHL’s age rules for CHL-affiilated players, Luchanko will still be too young next season to play for the Phantoms. If he is not in the NHL with the Flyers, Luchanko must return to the Ontario Hockey League for his draft-plus-two season.
Nevertheless, Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere thinks the playoff games in Lehigh Value this spring have been invaluable for both youngsters. Win or lose, the Hershey series has been especially meaningful. The Bears are not two-time defending champions for no reason.
“Means the world for them, because that’s playoff hockey. You don’t have much room out there,” Laperriere said.
“You have to do the best that you can with what you have. I think it’s only good for those two kids for their careers down the road to experience that (style of play). The Wilkes-Barre series was a little bit more wide open. This one’s tighter. That’s real hockey.”
