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Guelph Storm make it obvious they don’t expect Jett Luchanko back in OHL

Philadelphia Flyers prospect Jett Luchanko is about to compete as hard as possible in training camp later this month to try and ensure a spot on the NHL roster. It’s either be with the Flyers or go back to the OHL’s Guelph Storm for him — but his junior team may have just signaled that the decision for where the 19-year-old center will be playing next season has been already made.

This January, after a team-wide poor performance from Canada at the World Juniors earlier that month, Luchanko was named the 33rd captain in Storm history. By getting the “C” on his chest, it cemented him not only as the leader for the remaining few months but it raised some questions. If Guelph is suddenly giving him such a large role — aside from being the best player on that team — then does it mean they expect him to return for his final year of junior eligibility for the 2025-26 season?

Well, now we have a coinciding piece of news. Late Thursday afternoon, the Storm announced that the captaincy has been moved to forward and Dallas Stars 2025 seventh-rounder, Charlie Paquette.


C-Paq with the C ‼️

Charlie Paquette has been named captain of the club for the 2025-2026 season, making him the 34th captain in franchise history. Charlie will be joined by assistant captains Quinn Beauchesne and Rowan Topp.

Read More | https://t.co/2bIsJs5Tgg pic.twitter.com/d2OCZ3xa8K

— Guelph Storm (@Storm_City) September 4, 2025

While a junior team naming a new captain is nothing special — it’s typical for a leadership group to overturn so often since players are really only dominant or deserving of a senior role for the last two years of eligibility. The timing feels like the Storm know something, or are at the very least assuming that Luchanko is going to be making the Flyers as a full-time player this season.

There was no real reason for the Storm to make this decision on September 4. Yes, OHL training camps are taking place across the league and the preseason is already underway, but it would not be abnormal for them to start a season without a captain. They could have just waited until the Flyers made their decision regarding where Luchanko is going to spend his year, and then if he’s back in Guelph keep the leadership group the same (Paquette was already an alternate captain and it would made sense to still name defenseman Quinn Beauchesne the other). Or, if they find out Luchanko has made the Flyers in early October, then name Paquette as captain. It’s not like they haven’t already done this.

What makes this an even stronger signal of Luchanko being in the NHL, is that the Storm already did this last season. During the 2023-24 campaign, Braeden Bowman was the team captain as an overage player. That’s simple. And then, since Luchanko made the Flyers out of camp last season, the team just didn’t have a captain. They didn’t have an interim or anything of the ilk, just went without someone wearing the “C” until they placed it on the Flyers prospect in January, when they knew he was staying in Guelph for the rest of the season.

Maybe we’re going down the rabbit hole a little too far, or wanting to make assumptions while wearing our tinfoil hat tuned directly to Southwestern Ontario. But we don’t think the Storm were dying to name a captain or couldn’t continue the preseason without having one. It would be a little awkward if Luchanko goes back to Guelph and isn’t even wearing a letter as he dominates that league, right?

We will have to wait for the official declaration, but this (and the obvious reality that the Flyers need a center) could mean that the Flyers have already communicated to the junior team that they shouldn’t expect their star center back.

Or, maybe not. Who knows?



Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...s-they-dont-expect-jett-luchanko-back-in-ohl/
 
Flyperblog: How one Flyers fan prepares to be mad

It is extremely important to note that absolutely none of the below quotes are real. This is an entirely fake work of satire by an individual who could and should probably put his brainpower to better use. Thanks for reading!

Lifelong Philadelphia Flyers fan Dante DeAfogatto is preparing for the 2025-26 NHL season. He has watched highlights of last season’s team, done research on their recent draft picks, and run 352 simulations of the team in NHL 25. He has programmed his smart home device to play Flyers podcasts every night in his sleep. While the Flyers are preparing for their season to start, Dante is doing preparation of his own. DeAfogatto has started his annual process of building up his anger levels in small increments in order to be able to withstand the rigors of watching an 82-game hockey schedule.

A typical day starts with purposefully getting stuck in traffic. DeAfogatto works from home, but simulates a commute on I-76 every morning. He’ll spend his lunch break bringing half-filled forms to PennDOT while filling out 311 requests for broken streetlights. The anger exposure program continues with a 4:30 p.m. Microsoft Teams call that could have been an e-mail. This all culminates in diving into the ultimate anger inciting entity – a thorough scrolling of social media and YouTube comments.

DeAfogatto was blasting Metallica’s album St. Anger and boxing an orange and black punching bag in his basement. He told me that he plays the worst album by his favorite band to really get the fire burning. The bag? “I like to picture this as all of the captains who have let me down over the years. Take that, Derian Hatcher! Thanks for nothin’, Kevin Dineen!”

Now 47 years old, DeAfogatto has never seen his favorite team hoist the Stanley Cup. He has never once felt joy in his time rooting for the Flyers. His favorite pastime takes a toll. DeAfogatto makes sure that he takes time to decompress during the offseason.

“Rooting for the Flyers is dangerous. My doctor always tells me that I should quit, that my heart is going to explode. I love it too damn much. I always book two weeks in Boca Raton for mid-July after free agency. The sun and fresh air really helps me reset before another season screaming, ‘SHOOOOOOOT!’”

Dante’s wife, Sierra, folded a pile of faded Flyers t-shirt jerseys, and occasionally sipped from a large tumbler of white wine. “I’m not sure I would call what Dante does ‘hate-watching’ per say. I think he hates himself for sticking with them? The summers are nice, but then once training camp starts, well.” Sierra took another sip and clutched the Mike Knuble shirt in her hands until her knuckles turned white.

When asked how he felt about the coming season, Dante seemed hopeful, “I think Michkov is really going to take off and reach the next level.” He then put on a Ryan Ellis jersey and went back to watching the game-winning goal from the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.



Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyperblog-how-one-flyers-fan-prepares-to-be-mad/
 
How the Flyers could end up in the 2026 Draft Lottery

The season hasn’t even started yet. Hell, the pre-season hasn’t started yet. So there’s a long way to go before the 2026 NHL Draft rolls around. As is the case every year, the NHL holds its draft lottery during playoff time, with those teams with the most lottery balls possibly looking to land Gavin McKenna, the forward who, as of now, is the consensus top pick in 2026. The Philadelphia Flyers were pining to move up in the 2025 lottery. Instead they moved down to sixth but still ended up with Porter Martone, a highly-skilled blue-chip winger who should be a key piece down the road.

This offseason saw the Flyers take baby steps to address some issues. Goaltending? Well, they signed Dan Vladar, who should help ease the burden on Sam Ersson’s shoulders. Defense? With the injury to Rasmus Ristolainen and the departure of Erik Johnson last season, the Flyers signed Dennis Gilbert and Noah Juulsen in free agency. But prior to free agency and the draft, the Flyers addressed their center depth with the trade for Trevor Zegras, giving up Ryan Poehling and some picks in the process. The goal in addressing these concerns was obviously to improve the Flyers in 2025-26. In a perfect world, these adds get the Flyers deep into the season with playoffs still in their minds. Or having a chance in April to get into a wildcard spot. Flyers general manager Danny Briere wants to turn the corner, and wants that turn to start this season.

But what Philadelphia looks like on paper and what might be the on-ice product could be two drastically different things. And a bevy of different problems could arise that could see the Flyers out of the playoff picture before the Winter Olympics begin in February. If that’s the case, you could see Briere sell off a few pieces for picks to open up more slots for the younger talent in the pipeline? And at the same time make the team a bit worse to possibly end up in the lottery.

Anything is possible, but here’s a few key items (in no particular order) that would have to happen for the Flyers’ 2025-26 season to go quite pear-shaped, leaving them with the same amount or possibly more lottery balls than they had in 2025.

Dan Vladar gets injured​


Last season Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov provided Flyers fans with the worst exhibition of goaltending in their franchise history. That’s saying an awful lot for a franchise who has had goaltending issues over the decades. With the addition of Vladar, the idea is to help Ersson while at the same time provide the Flyers with a credible backup this year. And with the extremely condensed, concentrated schedule, Vladar is going to be called on a lot this year.

An early-season (or mid-season) injury to Vladar that takes him out of the lineup for weeks (or months) puts the Flyers back to square one. Ersson would be left holding the proverbial bag most of the time, with either Fedotov or (if he’s still with the Flyers) Kolosov trying to fill in. Maybe one of them would be solid between the pipes and get the job done in Vladar’s absence. Yet based on logic, there is nothing to indicate that the 2024-25 versions of Ersson, Fedotov and Kolosov would be vastly different for the 2025-26 season. It’s rare that a backup goaltender has had the chance to possibly be a starter coming into training camp. Vladar may have that opportunity if the other three are looking bad. Which is why it’s crucial for him to remain healthy. If Vladar is on the sidelines, or has a recurring or nagging injury that limits his appearances, then the Flyers are behind the eight ball in terms of a playoff spot. And an awful lot closer to the draft lottery.

Power play pitfall​


It’s difficult to imagine a power play as pitiful as the last three seasons. But until the Flyers prove over a lengthy stretch or half of a season they can score rather regularly on the power play (or roughly once every five times), not much will change during the regular season. Fortunately, a new head coach in Rick Tocchet (and his staff) should be able to find out what Rocky Thompson attempted to do and do the antithesis of that. And the addition of Trevor Zegras should help get the Flyers to respectability (ideally in the middle of the pack in terms of effectiveness).

However, the idea of Zegras gelling with Matvei Michkov, Travis Konecny, or Owen Tippett on the power play is just that for now. Maybe the power play gets off to a horrid start and the mistakes they made last year start to creep back in. A slow start would also result in little to no confidence, making the rather stationary, over-thinking and ridiculously deliberate power play emerge. Again. The Flyers have a bit more high-end talent over last year. Regardless, they are still going to have to fight for every goal on most nights. And if the power play doesn’t help them get goals that can tie a game up (or put Philadelphia ahead), then it’s going to be pushing a boulder uphill a majority of these upcoming 82 games. If anyone assumes Zegras immediately improves the power play, one only has to remember the Penguins drooling over acquiring Erik Karlsson and how it would help Pittsburgh’s power play. It didn’t.

Trevor Zegras acquisition becomes a disaster​


If Zegras doesn’t pan out, it shouldn’t be a huge issue. It’s a season, one to see if Zegras can deliver the good and end up creating a lengthy second chapter with the Flyers. Granted, injuries could play a part as it could with any player. However if a healthy Zegras is a miss on far more nights than he’s a hit, then the effect will be two-fold. For one, it will definitely affect the power play. And secondly, it will also mean that Philadelphia is still going to be looking for a center (or two) next summer in free agency. A lot of that would depend on if Jett Luchanko is ready to step into the lineup on a regular basis. But let’s not get that far ahead of ourselves.

Zegras putting in the work and the effort every shift should keep him out of Tocchet’s doghouse. If he begins missing assignments, jumping the zone or cheating a bit when it comes to defensive zone coverage, that’s a problem. That might mean Tocchet cutting his ice time. Which could see Zegras go from being the happy-go-lucky newbie eager to prove doubters wrong to a forward with an axe to grind and looking forward to getting out of town. It’s a one-year experiment. If it blows up in Briere’s face it doesn’t bode well for this year. Other than possibly landing McKenna.

Michkov and the sophomore slump​


Matvei Michkov enters his second year as a pro with a lot to live up to in terms of his own expectations. They are quite high, higher than even Briere thought was doable in his rookie year. So with that bar so high, and the dreaded sophomore slump possibly awaiting him in 2025-26, Michkov might take a step sideways or a step backwards regarding his production. A slow start could see the Mad Russian flustered and frustrated, putting more pressure on himself and trying to do everything alone. He may also see the opposition paying a lot more attention to him than in his first year. Being one of the biggest threats on the Flyers may have him playing against the opposition’s best checking line or shutdown unit.

There’s nothing better than knowing Michkov is starting his second season when many believed he was still a season away from playing for the Flyers. Here’s hoping that he (and Zegras) are able to find some magic or chemistry off the bat. A lengthy pointless streak or goal drought could have Michkov looking a bit out of sorts. And the Flyers out of the loop early on.

Sanheim sags​


There’s nothing to indicate Travis Sanheim is going to reverse course on what has been a very fine couple of seasons of late. He’s eating up minutes galore, is a credible top pairing defenseman and should find himself wearing Canada’s colors in February for the Olympics. He should remain one of the key and best blueliners the Flyers have to offer for the next few years.

What would an average or sub-average season from Sanheim do for Philadelphia? Well, nothing really good. The first pairing would be struggling, leaving the middle and bottom pairs with a lot more responsibility to pick up the slack and play above their heads. And that would certainly put more pressure on the goaltenders, something that nobody needs to see or bear witness to. It’s unlikely Sanheim regresses drastically this year, but a poor year from Sanheim means a pretty poor season for the Flyers. And a lot of lottery balls at the end of it.



Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/how-the-flyers-could-end-up-in-the-2026-draft-lottery/
 
Philadelphia Flyers 2025 Top 25 Under 25, No. 13: Denver Barkey

Welcome to Broad Street Hockey’s Summer 2025 Top Under 25! The series is back and with the Philadelphia Flyers focusing so much on the future, it’s more important than ever. Join us as we rank the 25 best players under the age of 25 for the next few weeks.

No. 13: Denver Barkey

2024-25 Primary League/Team: London Knights (OHL)
2024-25 Statistics: 25 G, 57 A in 50 GP
Age as of 9/2/2025: 20
Acquired Via: 2023 NHL Draft — Round 3, Pick 95

We are in the heart of the 2025 Top 25 Under 25 now. We’re no longer diving into the depths of the organization looking at players who might never leave the AHL or freshly drafted prospects who have so many years of development ahead of them — it’s now players who are either considered one of the top prospects for the Flyers or actual, real-life NHL players. Denver Barkey falls into the former category, obviously.

While he does have his detractors due to his 5-foot-9-ness, Barkey has reliably been one of the better players in the entire OHL and it’s not just racking up the points either, but showing why he can make such an impact as he has for the powerhouse London Knights.

How did Barkey’s 2024-25 season go? Is his stock trending up or down from where it was entering the year?

If we want to sell Denver Barkey’s past season to even the most casual of fan, it’s the fact that he captained a team to a Memorial Cup win and led one of the most dominant rosters in junior hockey we’ve seen since some other rendition of the Knights that featured future NHL All-Stars.

In more detail, he took a small step forward in production — going from 1.59 points per game in the 2023-24 season to 1.64 points per game last season — but it was his details game that really shone as the Knights kept on racking up the wins. Barkey essentially peaked for how much he would be able to score in junior hockey, since it is still very hard to exceed that rate unless you’re some generational-level talent, but was able to put more of his focus on things that will make him a solid pro hockey player.

Joined by prospect expert and analyst Will Scouch of scouching.ca, during last season we watched an entire game of Barkey’s and broke down everything that we saw. If we want to go beyond the numbers and how he led London’s forwards in scoring once again and continued to be an agitator while not taking many penalties — this breakdown is for that.

As for his stock, it would probably be reasonable to say that it stayed the same compared to where it was at the start of the season. There was nothing more Barkey could do except win championships (which he did) so now it will just be about where he goes from here. If he suddenly scored 150 points in the OHL, then we might be able to say the stock rose, but considering the production stayed roughly the same and while we love all the details, the main issue of his size and his projectability to the NHL, hold the hype at status quo.

What are we expecting from Barkey this season? What should we be looking for from him?

The expectations for Barkey are maybe the most uncertain expectations in this whole ranking. We have seen smaller players that score heaps of points in juniors suddenly cave under the increased pace of professional hockey and never be able to recover from that. But, those smaller players typically don’t have the underlying tendencies and smarts that Barkey possesses.

Reasonably, we can all expect there to be some struggles in his first pro season with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms but eventually would need to see a sign of improvement or at least him on the right path to eventually making the NHL. If he finishes the year with under 20 points and finding himself stapled to the bottom six, then we should consider that a bit of a letdown. But, there is also a world where his attention to detail make new Phantoms head coach John Snowden fall in love with him and he adapts incredibly well to the pro game and could even be in contention as one of the best rookies in the AHL next season.

The spectrum of outcomes for Barkey next season is so incredibly wide, but let’s just say that we want him to at least look comfortable by the last couple months of the season.

How does Barkey fit in the Flyers’ rebuild? Is it likely he’s going to be a part of the next good Flyers team?

Barkey is such A Flyer. And while we have some of that already on the team, having someone that can be that scoring pest winger down the lineup would be so useful. Or even just a complementary piece like a Brendan Gallagher on those mediocre Montreal Canadiens teams — if Barkey becomes what he could be in the NHL, he would be incredibly useful for the Flyers when they want to be good again.

His game actualized on the Flyers is someone who just is innately a playoff performer and someone every other team looks at and can’t find an answer for since they have all their resources tied up in Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone. Barkey won’t be the star of the team but could provide the scoring depth that makes or breaks so many Cup-hopeful rosters.

Determining if it’s likely Barkey makes it or not is near impossible. Even London and Lehigh Valley teammate Oliver Bonk has some reliability when it comes to his projection as some serviceable, NHL-level defender. For Barkey, it feels as likely that he’s a top-six staple for the Flyers in five years, as it is that he’s not even playing pro hockey in North America anymore. But, in saying that we are extreme fans of what he is right now and what we can dream of him becoming.

13-denver-barkey.jpg


Previously in Philadelphia Flyers Summer 2025 Top 25 Under 25:


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Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...cts-2025-top-25-under-25-no-13-denver-barkey/
 
Friday Morning Fly By: Here comes the action!

*FOLKS Danny Briere is out here making BIG MOVES in early September!! That’s right, GMDB made another huge move this week, trading <checks notes> JR Avon for Tucker Robertson. Big Moves Briere baby that’s what we call him. [BSH]

*If you’re a subscriber over at Charlie’s website you can check out part two of his interview with Flyers’ AGM Brent Flahr, which is all about centers, defensemen, AND goalies. [PHLY]

*Speaking of this team’s centers, we speculated about what the best and worst case scenario might be for each of them this season. [BSH]

*While we’re speculating, how about one question for each player on the roster ahead of the 2025-26 season? [The Athletic]

*Anyhoo, next up on 25U25, New Guy Jack Nesbitt! Welcome to the party, kid. [BSH]

*If you were ranking all 32 goalie tandems in the league, you’d probably have the Flyers last, right? I’d probably have them last. AND YET! [Bleacher Report]

*The Wild are determined to keep Kirill Kaprizov. Like… obviously. Don’t do it though Kap come home baby, play with Mich. [TSN]

*And finally, did you realize the Olympics are only five months away? That may have been obvious to you but some of us did not realize. So yeah why not start talking about what Team USA is going to look like? Because it’s probably going to be good. [ESPN]



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Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/friday-morning-fly-by-here-comes-the-action/
 
Flyers acquire Tucker Robertson from Seattle Kraken

The Philadelphia Flyers are just several days away from taking the first step of the 2025-26 NHL season with rookie camp starting next week, but they decided to make a quick trade and shuffle up some organization depth before doing that.

Announced by the team Thursday afternoon, the Flyers have acquired center Tucker Robertson from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for forward J.R. Avon.


TRADE ALERT: We’ve acquired forward Tucker Robertson from Seattle in exchange for forward Jon-Randall Avon. https://t.co/qqLjli342H

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) September 4, 2025

Robertson was a fourth-round draft pick of the Kraken all the way back in the 2022 NHL Draft and is now a 22-year-old center who hasn’t yet found any relatively consistent level of success in pro hockey. While with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL, he was a regular goalscorer, putting up 41 goals in 68 games during the 2021-22 season and 36 during his final year in junior, in 68 games as well. As soon as he took that giant leap up to the pro level, the 5-foot-10 center had his production halted with just six goals and 10 points in 39 games for the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. But, during a stint in the ECHL for the Kansas City Mavericks, he did score four goals and 14 points in 13 games.

Just last season, Robertson scored four goals and nine points in 38 games for Coachella Valley — so we’re not talking about someone who will instantly become something desirable even in the AHL.

But going the other way was someone with a similar profile. J.R. Avon signed with the Flyers as an undrafted free agent back in September 2021 and was loaned back to the same Petes that Robertson played for and put up roughly a point per game as a member of the Flyers organization with 128 points in 123 games through his last two seasons of junior hockey. He made the step to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms where he scored 18 points in his rookie year and followed it up with…17 points in his sophomore season last year.

These two former OHL teammates are now being moved for one another — to start afresh in new environments that can utilize their skill maybe just ever so slightly more.

Both players are listed as centers but were not regulars down the middle for their respective AHL clubs. Maybe the Flyers see Robertson more as a sure thing at the center position than Avon ever was and could play him there, because they certainly need more of that down in Allentown.

As it stands right now, the rough estimate of who will play center for the Phantoms is a collection of Jacob Gaucher, Karsen Dorwart, Rodrigo Abols, and maybe Oscar Eklind. That is not the most inspiring group of players to foster in some young talents like potentially Alex Bump and Denver Barkey down in the minors. Robertson is probably nothing more than a bottom-six AHL center (if he does play the position) and might not even be better than the older Eklind right now. But, this move is certainly just to give some players who are on the cusp of fading into minor-league obscurity, a new start for their hockey careers.

We’re now the No. 1 Tucker Robertson fanblog in existence.



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Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...acquire-tucker-robertson-from-seattle-kraken/
 
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