That’s a wrap, folks! The 2024 NHL Entry Draft is finally in the books, and the Flyers had… a bit of a strange one, if we’re being honest. With a bit of time taken to let it all sink in, and to shake off some of the initial extreme responses, we’re here to take a moment to audit these picks and talk about just how the Flyers did this time out. Let’s get into it.
Jett Luchanko – Center – Guelph Storm (OHL)
EP speaks: “As soon as he steps on the ice, Luchanko increases the pace of the game two-fold. One second, he’s on the heel of an opponent carrying the puck in the neutral zone, and the next, he’s piercing right through the opposing formation with the puck on his own stick. His speed makes him a retrieval and pressure machine.”
Our take: On the one hand, we can kind of talk ourselves into this pick. The Flyers reportedly tried to move up into the top-5 to get a really high end player, but when the cost proved too steep, they simply passed and planned to stay more or less where they were originally set to. That’s fine. And then by the time their pick was coming around, it looked like the best two centers (which they had made very clear that they were targeting) on the board were Konsta Helenius and then Luchanko, so they moved back one spot, got another additional pick, and still got their guy. That’s fine too. And while Luchanko was still a reach at that position (they likely could have moved back even more and still been able to get him), we can see why they like him so much. He’s one of the fastest players in this class, he’s a forechecking menace, and he brings some good offensive potential as well. He plays a Flyers-type style already, which would be attractive to them.
On the other hand, knowing that they had Zeev Buium fall out of the top-5 where many were projecting him to go and into their laps, and they passed in favor of moving back just one spot in order to make the reach for Luchanko, that’s tough to swallow.
Grade: B-
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