Flyers trade back in the NHL draft, select center Jett Luchanko No. 13 overall
The 5-foot-11, 187-pounder is a native of London, Ontario but has Philly ties, with cousins hailing from Kennett Square.
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LAS VEGAS — Don’t be surprised if you see a few Jett Luchanko jerseys starting to pop up in Philly.
The Flyers selected the Guelph Storm center with the No. 13 pick in the NHL draft on Friday — and he’s got a connection with the area. A native of London, Ontario, his cousins are from nearby Kennett Square.
“They were shaking with excitement,” his aunt Carol Anne Ganly told the Flyers about Luchanko’s cousins, who were in attendance.
“He’s already turned me from a [New Jersey] Devils fan to a Flyers fan,” his uncle, Ken Ganly, added.
Not too shabby.
Originally slated to draft in the 12th slot, the Flyers did everything they could to move up.
As rumors swirled about the No. 4 pick owned by the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Ottawa Senators’ seventh pick, they were unable to find a willing trade partner. Instead, with the Flyers on the clock at No. 12, general manager Danny Brière was seen speaking with the St. Louis Blues table. After he returned to his group, assistant general manager Barry Hanrahan sprinted across the draft floor — he was making sure central registry had the correct details — and moments later, an NHL staffer walked up to the podium to hand commissioner Gary Bettman a sheet of paper.
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A siren went off inside Sphere and “TRADE” splashed across the massive screen. The commissioner announced the Flyers were swapping first-round picks — but not with the Blues. They sent No. 12 to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for the 13th overall pick and a third-round pick in 2025. Minnesota snapped up defenseman Zeev Buium.
“What happens is there’s a lot of information that you’re gathering, not just me but our staff — all the teams do that,” Brière said. “We didn’t want to move too far back because Jett was the guy that we wanted. When we saw the board, the way it was coming down, we had a feeling that we could move back a little bit. We explored different options; that was the only one that really was safe enough and gave us the chance to acquire more draft capital. But we were very careful to not move too far back because we really wanted Jett.”
On a night filled with celebrities — Céline Dion announced the Montreal Canadiens’ selection of Ivan Demidov at No. 5 — Brière introduced a special guest.
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“As a born-and-raised Philadelphian, for me, it is a thrill to announce this next selection for my hometown Philadelphia Flyers. So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s get ready to rumble,” famed boxing ring announcer Michael Buffer said.
In classic form, he then rattled off the stats — 187 pounds, 5-foot-11 — and the selection of Luchanko.
“I think I’m just someone who kind of brings it every night, and I think consistency is one of the biggest things for me,” said Luchanko, who likens his game to that of Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki. “I’m never going to take a day off, and I think my biggest strengths would be my speed and my and my hockey IQ.”
Luchanko collected 74 points (20 goals, 54 assists) in 68 games with the Storm this season. He helped Team Canada to a gold medal at the U-18 World Championships in May, recording seven points in seven games.
“We didn’t want him to play too, too well. We were trying to keep him hidden,” Brière said with a smile and a chuckle about Luchanko at the U-18s. “Our guys were really high on him really early in the season, and he just kept getting better and better, and you saw his stock just kept increasing.
“So we were not too excited about that, the fact that he kept climbing up. At first, early in the season, we thought he could have been a later pick for us, our second pick in the first round. But in the second half of the year, clearly, just hearing all the other teams talk about it — I got in trouble by a few teams, already giving me crap for taking him ahead of a few of them.”
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As expected, Macklin Celebrini was selected first overall by the San Jose Sharks. The Chicago Blackhawks opted for Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov at No. 2, and a stunned Beckett Sennecke was taken third overall by the Anaheim Ducks.
Inquirer staff writer Lochlahn March contributed to this article.