The Philadelphia Flyers keeping young prospect Jett Luchanko around for the first three weeks of the season had as much to do with their desire to influence his development as long as they could as it did with getting him further NHL experience.

General manager Daniel Briere indicated as much on Oct. 6, the day the Flyers’ opening night roster was revealed.

“That’s part of the reason to keep him here, is we have control a little bit more over his development,” Briere said.

But there’s more to the equation. Luchanko’s junior team, the Guelph Storm, aren’t a strong club. They finished in last place in their conference in 2024-25 with a 21-38-5-4 record, and while they’re a bit better so far this season — 6-6-2-0, in eighth place in the 10-team conference — they are still short on high-end talent.

After reassigning Luchanko to Guelph on Oct. 27, Briere has little, if any, say in the immediate future of a player for whom they still have high hopes. That’s something else he acknowledged this month.

“I can’t control what happens whenever we send him back to juniors,” he said. “I can’t look at where he’s going to go. I con’t control what the team does.”

So, what comes next for the No. 13 overall selection of the 2024 draft?

The Storm on Thursday revealed that Luchanko would serve as the co-captain with Charlie Paquette. Luchanko was previously the sole captain, a role he took on last January through the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.

But that doesn’t mean Luchanko will finish the season in Guelph. According to a league source, there’s still a desire from the player’s camp to be dealt to a more competitive junior club. And there’s one team in particular that they’re targeting: the Brantford Bulldogs.

That’s a move that the Flyers would surely welcome, too. The Bulldogs are not only one of the top teams in the OHL — they’re currently in first place in the Western Conference with an 11-0-2-1 record — but they’re coached by Jay McKee, who is a former teammate of Briere’s and who even interviewed for the Flyers’ vacant head coaching job that eventually went to Rick Tocchet, according to colleague Scott Wheeler.

In Brantford, Luchanko would likely assume a top-six role along with promising center Adam Benak. The Bulldogs are also much deeper at wing than Guelph, including Marek Vaneker, a first-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2024.

The Windsor Spitfires, in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 12-2-1-1 mark, are another possible destination for Luchanko. Windsor already has a Flyers first-round pick on its roster, too, in Jack Nesbitt, the No. 12 overall pick in the 2025 draft.

Guelph trading Luchanko is still no sure thing. But one potential development would make a trade much more likely. Guelph and Kitchener are the two finalists to host the 2027 Memorial Cup, with a decision expected by the end of November. Should Guelph win that bid, it will almost certainly deal Luchanko for future assets in order to try and load up for a run at the OHL championship. Luchanko, of course, if he’s not with the Flyers next season, will finally be permitted to play for the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms by then.

Regardless, one worry that the Flyers don’t have, according to team sources, is Luchanko being a part of Canada’s World Juniors team at the end of the calendar year. While there could be some significant competition for their four center-ice jobs, particularly if the San Jose Sharks and Seattle Kraken permit top picks Michael Misa and Berkly Catton to play, Luchanko’s spot seems to be safe. The Flyers were unhappy with Luchanko’s usage for Team Canada last year, as he skated primarily as the fourth-line center for that team that ultimately disappointed by getting knocked out early.

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler contributed to this report.