The Philadelphia Flyers and top center prospect Jett Luchanko are about to benefit massively from this new AHL rule change, reported to take effect starting this season.
On Tuesday, PuckPedia reported that AHL loans for 19-year-old players, a rule passed in the new CBA with the NHL, will take effect in the 2025-26 season, allowing the Flyers to send Luchanko to the AHL to further develop.
Update: PuckPedia posted the following correction to their X account: " The 19 year old AHL change is not yet in effect. It requires agreement with CHL, & the NHL/NHLPA have agreed to push to get this agreement & change done for this season. However, those negotiations have not started yet & no guarantee it's effective 25-26."
Ordinarily, Luchanko, who turned 19 just over a week ago, would have needed to either make the Flyers' NHL roster outright to play pro, or spend another season in the CHL playing for the OHL Guelph Storm.
And, as we know, the Storm aren't the greatest team in the OHL, and they traded away most of their auxiliary talent last season.
This report has to be a sigh of relief for the Flyers, who saw what their top center prospect can do at the pro level in a small sample size a few months ago.
Luchanko picked up three assists in nine regular season games with the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms last season, then added six more assists in seven postseason contests.
The 2024 first-round pick hasn't scored a pro goal between 16 total AHL games and four NHL games with the Flyers, but shooting and scoring instincts were a generally agreed-upon criticism of Luchanko before he was even selected last June.
Flyers Roster Battles Become Clearer with Porter Martone Taking NCAA RoutePorter Martone's commitment to the NCAA's Michigan State means one less winger is battling for a roster spot with the Philadelphia Flyers this fall.
Considering he only just turned 19 and has succeeded playing against men, there's no reason to believe Luchanko can't develop and build upon the last 12 months in an environment more conducive to growth with the Phantoms.
The 19-year-old's supporting cast in Allentown could shrink slightly after training camp, provided teammates like Alex Bump and Nikita Grebenkin make the NHL roster and stick with the Flyers.
Either way, though, players like Bump, Grebenkin, Devin Kaplan, Samu Tuomaala, Karsen Dorwart, Massimo Rizzo, Denver Barkey, and Alexis Gendron are marked improvements on what Luchanko had in Guelph the last two years.
What the Flyers' prized center prospect achieves next will be exciting to watch.