Jett Luchanko Dominates in Battle of Flyers Prospects

After a slow start to his 2024-25 OHL season, top Philadelphia Flyers forward prospect Jett Luchanko appears to have found his footing, putting up four assists in a battle of Flyers prospects that also featured Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk.

Luchanko’s Guelph Storm hosted Barkey and Bonk’s London Knights on Sunday night in an unusually high-scoring affair, with some of the OHL’s best NHL prospects going at it.

And, while Luchanko and Guelph ultimately came out on the losing end with an 8-7 decision, it was an encouraging step forward offensively for the much-maligned 2024 first-round pick.

Luchanko, 18, ultimately finished with four assists – three primary assists – 19 faceoff wins (76% on the night), and a plus-2 plus-minus rating. The Flyers center did not record a shot on goal in the back-and-forth shootout, but that’s fine. The Flyers don’t need to make Luchanko into something he’s not.

Top defense prospect Oliver Bonk also had an impressive showing at the other end of the ice, recording three assists, a plus-3 plus-minus rating, and four shots on goal. Bonk now has multiple points in two straight games and is riding a three-game point streak.

Bonk, 19, was among the Flyers’ final preseason cuts ahead of the start of the 2024-25 regular season. He’s in his last year of junior hockey, so he’ll turn pro at some point in 2025. Whether that is in the spring at the tail end of the 2024-25 season or in the fall at the start of the 2025-26 season is still uncertain.

Concern for Denver Barkey?

Speaking of some players with slow starts, Denver Barkey, who was recovering from mono while with the Flyers during training camp, has taken a step back offensively, so we can only assume that he’s still rounding into form.

The only problem is that the 2025 World Junior Championships start next month, so if Barkey wants to represent the Flyers and Canada and make up for missing out last year, he’ll have to get on his horse in the next few weeks.

After going pointless in London’s game against Luchanko and Guelph on Sunday, Barkey currently sits at one goal, 10 assists, and 11 points in 13 games.

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It is also worth noting that nine of Barkey’s 11 points have come across six games over the last two weeks, so maybe he’s starting to find his footing. You’re not back to 100% until you’re back to 100%, so we’ll continue to monitor Barkey’s performances over the next few weeks leading up to World Juniors.

Barkey, the captain of the Knights, had 35 goals, 67 assists, and 102 points in 64 games for London last season.