The final rosters for the NHL were due by Monday at 5 p.m., but the Flyers had made their decisions by Friday afternoon. There weren’t many newcomers to the roster, but two rookies stood out.
Matvei Michkov was always going to be there. The anticipation for him to join was always there. But Jett Luchanko was almost an afterthought to be on the team’s final roster, even to the GM.
“Going into training camp, I never thought he had much of a chance to be honest,” Danny Briere said on Monday. “He’s blown us away from Day 1.”
How did Jett Luchanko make the final roster and earn, at minimum, an extended tryout on the Flyers’ roster? His speed and maturity were standout traits from the beginning.
“The speed is one thing that really jumped out, top-end NHL speed already at such a young age,” Briere said. “That’s impressive. Then you start watching him play and it’s just all the little details in his game, the way he supports everybody, the way he makes other players around him better was very impressive. I know we have a tendency to just look at points when we evaluate, but if you dive deeper and you watch all the little details in his game, especially defensively, in the neutral zone, always in good position, and offensively just supporting his teammates, keeping plays alive.”
Briere noted that there are no guarantees for Luchanko. He could be here for one day, here for the nine-game tryout, or here for the entire season. His play will dictate that decision and it will be a constant conversation.
“It’s his overall game that we’re going to be looking at, just like we did in training camp,” Briere said. “We’ve got to evaluate the full spectrum. In his case too, it’s not just in the moment does he help us more than the next guy in line? We also have to take into consideration his age and his development, and what’s mostly important for us is in three, five, seven years from now, how can we create the best Jett Luchanko?”
One of the focuses on Luchanko has been the position. As a center, a position where the Flyers have notably been thin, there was certainly an emphasis on the Flyers adding more to the pipeline at the 2024 NHL Draft. As a position that demands a lot of responsibility, Briere is focused on how Luchanko handles that when making a decision on Luchanko’s long-term future.
“The center position is a tough one. You’re basically supporting all your teammates out there,” Briere said. “You’re always the guy that is heavily involved in all facets. It takes a mature person to play that position. That’s why they’re so tough to find.
“It’s a tough position for young players to really come into the league and make an impact. That’s another thing we’re going to be watching for. He’s shown us in training camp and in the games that he played that he can hold his own already at his age, but it’s also true that teams were not fully NHL players. That’s something we’re going to pay attention to when it’s full NHL rosters that he’s facing night after night.”
Briere also had some interesting comments on the team’s training camp. While noting that all players came into camp in great shape and everyone performed well in skating tests and camp practices, Briere felt that performance was lacking more in preseason games.
“I talked to the veterans this morning, and I didn’t like the game part of our training camp from most of our veterans,” Briere said. “A couple of them were really good, but every single one, to a man, showed up in great shape, put in the work in the summer. Every single one did well in the skating test and then the practices that he put them through. I just didn’t like some of the games from our veterans.
“I get it also, it’s games that don’t really matter, you don’t want to get hurt, you’re trying to get prepared and get ready for game one. But it’s also tough to turn that switch on. So, I told the players. I said, ‘there’s too many of you that are just a little too casual in the games,’ and I don’t want them to be surprised when game one starts and they’re still trying to navigate through training camp. I told the guys, ‘you’ve got to start to get the right mindset as far as competing.’ A lot of the guys, it just wasn’t quite good enough in the games. The rest of training camp, passing grades for everyone. We’re really happy with how the guys showed up and plowed through [John Tortorella’s] skate and practices.”
It’s been a bit of a rare occurrence this preseason for anyone to upstage Michkov. Luchanko’s inclusion on the final roster did that to a degree, but it doesn’t take away from the type of preseason Michkov had in Briere’s eyes.
“It exceeded my expectations to be honest,” Briere said. “Got a little worried with all the skating, first time for him to see something like that. I kind of saw that in a couple of the games. I thought he was lumbering around a little bit more, but still, he finds a way to make plays. I thought he showed us a lot when he was rested.
“The stuff that he does, his playmaking abilities are outstanding. I was really impressed in the battle, how he positions his body to keep pucks alive all the time. You watch him work with his feet and his stick, he’s always thinking ahead of everybody. It’s something that makes him special.”
The Flyers officially get the regular season underway on Friday night, taking on the Vancouver Canucks at 10 p.m.
