It’s something so many fans have been clamoring for, to watch one of the top Philadelphia Flyers prospects in a more exciting and offensively charged environment on a much better team. And, well, it finally happened.
According to Jeff Marek, the Guelph Storm have traded Flyers prospect Jett Luchanko to the powerhouse Brantford Bulldogs in the OHL. Luchanko goes from needing to be the main offensive driver on a playoff bubble team in junior hockey, to possibly the best team in the entire Canadian Hockey League.
OHL News – Flyers prospect Jett Luchanko is on his way to the Brantford Bulldogs.
Sounds like Layne Gallacher and picks going the other way.
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) November 24, 2025
Luchanko has been supercharged lately. Just over the weekend, the 19-year-old center had a game where he recorded five primary assists against the Owen Sound Attack to make it two goals and 17 points in 11 games since he was sent back to the OHL by the Flyers last month.
The full deal has not been fleshed out or reported elsewhere, but as we speculated last week, the timing makes complete sense. The Guelph Storm were named as the hosts for the 2027 Memorial Cup and because of that, they have a new deadline of trying to be a competitive team and ice a solid enough roster to either be one of the best teams in the OHL, or at least be a tough out against the top teams elsewhere in the CHL.
With that announcement and clarity for their future plans, the Storm had to at least get something of present value and at least one player that would make an impact on that 2026-27 team. As reported by Marek, Guelph is getting 17-year-old Layne Gallacher as part of the return from Brantford — a player who has been a solid depth contributor for the top team but could do even more given an upgrade in role now with the Storm.
Beyond the details of the trade itself — which we’re sure Flyers fans are dying to find out just how many draft picks and current 13-year-olds Luchanko was just traded for — this could mean a whole lot for the 19-year-old center. While he’s been putting up some very good numbers as of late, we could see an even further offensive explosion from Luchanko.
What this means for the rest of Luchanko’s OHL season
If there’s anything people need to know, it is just how good the Bulldogs are in comparison to the Storm. Luchanko will be going from the 11-11-2-0 Storm to a Bulldogs team that has not yet lost a game in regulation with a 18-0-4-1 record and is comfortably at the top of the league.
And it goes even a step further. Guelph managed to average just 3.625 goals per game so far this season, barely providing any opportunity for them to get into games if Luchanko is on the ice. Brantford on the other hand, has scored 119 goals so far this season already, which makes their average rate of 5.17 goals per game. It is an insanely offensive environment that the Flyers prospect is going to find himself in and immediately be able to contribute. He might just be surrounded by the most talent he has ever played with not on a Team Canada roster.
One of those players is someone Flyers fans will be familiar with as a prospect that was certainly an option for them to take at sixth overall when they selected Porter Martone — that being center Jake O’Brien. While they both play the same position, they should be on the top power-play unit together and O’Brien has been simply running rampant in the OHL with nine goals and 40 points in 21 games so far this season.
Further down the lineup on the wings have players like Minnesota Wild prospect Adam Benak with 38 points in 21 games, Marek Vanacker with 21 goals in the same amount of games, and 2026 Draft-eligible nepobaby Caleb Malhotra with 29 points in 23 games this season. There is a whole lot of forward talent that Luchanko should be added to and only make this Brantford team even stronger down the middle.
Luchanko won’t be leaned on as much, but to counterbalance Jake O’Brien’s own elite playmaking, the older Flyers prospect will be the other top-six center and will probably be on the top shorthanded unit and take on the opposition’s top players, as well.
Another little interesting wrinkle is that we probably won’t get to have the same late-season excitement as we did last spring.
Flyers shouldn’t expect Luchanko to come back as early as before
With the Storm being a not very good team last season and out of the playoffs, Luchanko was free to return south of the border. His OHL season was done so by rules of the CBA, he was allowed to lace up for the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the remainder of his season despite being under the 20-year-old threshold. Now, that probably isn’t going to happen this year.
It would be shocking if the Bulldogs don’t go on a lengthy run through the OHL playoffs and honestly, it would be surprising if they didn’t win the whole thing to make their way to the Memorial Cup. The only true competitor in the league is Jack Nesbitt’s Windsor Spitfires — every other team in the OHL is just hovering around the .600 point percentage (or lower) and doesn’t have the same competitive aspirations as those two.
With that being said, Luchanko’s junior season will stretch long into the late season of the AHL and if the Bulldogs make the Memorial Cup, they will be playing hockey until at least the last week of May which is also most likely the week of the Calder Cup Final. Basically, Luchanko is possibly not even stepping foot into the AHL this season because of this trade.
Overall, it’s going to be good to see Luchanko in a different environment and truly put his skills to the test with higher expectations and truly high-level junior scorers around him to take full advantage of that playmaking.
