There are always a few players who impress in training camp to make a push for the opening night roster. For the Philadelphia Flyers, one player has done that in each of the last two years, and he\u2019s looking to make it three years in a row.<\/p>\n
Of course, we\u2019re talking about Jett Luchanko.<\/p>\n
The Flyers infamously traded down to select Luchanko with the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. He came into that year\u2019s training camp on the outside looking in, but due to his speed and the Flyers\u2019 lack of options down the middle, John Tortorella penciled Luchanko into the opening night roster. Luchanko ended up playing four games with the Flyers before returning to the OHL, although Tortorella may have wanted him to stick around for longer.<\/p>\n
Luchanko did the same thing last year, earning a spot on the roster under first-year head coach Rick Tocchet. He once again played just four games, putting up no points with two penalty minutes and a minus-3 rating.<\/p>\n
The forward struggled a bit in the OHL, putting up 17 points (15 assists) in 11 games while captaining the Guelph Storm before being traded to the Brantford Bulldogs, where he recorded 33 points in 42 games in the regular season and playoffs combined.<\/p>\n
Now, the Flyers have the option to send Luchanko to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL to start the season, and they could call him up whenever they want rather than needing to keep him on the roster as they did the last two years. <\/p>\n
But could Luchanko impress Tocchet enough to make the opening night roster yet again?<\/p>\n
Luchanko is impressing at Flyers training camp<\/p>\n
While a full year in the AHL may be best for Luchanko\u2019s development, he\u2019s already shown he can keep up at the NHL level, and even played in the Flyers\u2019 final playoff game despite battling a core muscle injury.<\/p>\n
Luchanko is getting an opportunity between Travis Konecny and Porter Martone early on in training camp. Now, we shouldn\u2019t read too much into these combinations as the Flyers have all of their possible center options playing down the middle, but that trio theoretically could work in the NHL, whether it\u2019s out of the gate or sometime in the futrue.<\/p>\n
The now 20-year-old center had a particularly impressive shift as captured by NBC Sports Philadelphia\u2019s Jordan Hall on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Fantastic work this whole sequence by Jett Luchanko, who finishes with nice move. But the battle and position was just as impressive. pic.twitter.com\/MaNGOi5Iho<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) September 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n As Hall notes, it\u2019s an impressive finish by Luchanko, but the work ethic and battle leading up to the goal likely caught the coaching staff\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n