On a busy day for the Philadelphia Flyers that saw head coach John Tortorella become a part of their past, a critical piece of their future is back on his way to the pro ranks.

Hours after firing Tortorella with the Flyers in free fall, they assigned Luchanko to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Thursday. The 18-year-old forward went to the Flyers as the 13th overall pick in last June’s NHL Draft. He comes to Lehigh Valley after a 21-35-56 regular season with the OHL’s Guelph Storm. With the Storm missing the OHL playoffs, Luchanko became eligible to join the Phantoms.

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Luchanko has had an eventful season already after making the Philadelphia roster out of training camp. He ended up appearing in four games early in the season before a reassignment to Guelph. Along the way he also made the cut to represent Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship, where he picked up one goal in five games. He could have provided Guelph with a strong haul in a trade, but the Storm ultimately elected to keep him following his return from international play. Guelph ended up finishing second-to-last in the OHL with a 21-38-5-4 record.

Luchanko could become the second-youngest player in Phantoms history to appear in a game when they visit the Belleville Senators on Friday before a Saturday road match-up with the Laval Rocket. The Phantoms (31-25-5-2) are fifth in the Atlantic Division, three points clear of the playoff divisional playoff line going into play Friday.  He is the second top OHL prospect to join an AHL club this week. The Cleveland Monsters brought in forward Luca Pinelli after his season with the Ottawa 67’s concluded.

Luchanko is also the second recent Flyers draft pick to report to the Phantoms this week. On Wednesday they added 2023 fourth-round selection Alex Ciernik on an amateur tryout deal. Ciernik, a 20-year-old forward, played 46 games with Allsvenskan club Nybro IF and had 11-12-23.

Tortorella’s firing became the latest twist for the Flyers in the second half of their season. Established roster players Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Andrei Kuzmenko, Erik Johnston, and Scott Laughton have all been shipped out in trades since the end of January as part of the organization’s ongoing rebuild, and the losses have piled up for the Flyers. Before Thursday night’s 6-4 win against the Montreal Canadiens for newly appointed interim head coach Brad Shaw, they had gone 1-10-1 going back to March 4. They sit just one point ahead of the last-place Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference with a 29-36-9 record. They will host Buffalo this Saturday afternoon.

“I really hope that this is the bottom, the rock-bottom, for us today, and this is the turnaround,” Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said at a press conference Thursday. “It’s not going to be an overnight thing. It’s going to take time, but I feel we’re stepping into a different phase of the rebuild.”

Given Philadelphia’s plans, the Phantoms have seen several changes to their roster this month. Philadelphia acquired forward Nikita Grebenkin as part of the return from the Toronto Maple Leafs for Laughton at the NHL trade deadline. Grebenkin, 21, has been stationed with the Phantoms and has 2-1-3 through his first four games. Philadelphia also recalled goaltender Alexei Kolosov from the Phantoms this week after a brief AHL tune-up. In his first full season in North America, the 23-year-old Kolosov has gone 5-6-1 | 3.11 | .884 in 12 appearances with the Phantoms.

Philadelphia also signed Arizona State defenseman Ty Murchison on Thursday, giving him a two-year contract that begins next season. Murchison, 22, went to the Flyers in the fifth round of the 2021 NHL Draft and had four assists in 37 games with the Sun Devils this season as a senior. Philadelphia has not confirmed yet whether Murchison will be joining the Phantoms.

“The excitement of icing a young team and the prospects that are coming makes it very exciting for me. I’m not saying that next year we’ll take a huge step forward. It’s going to be small steps. The patience part is the hardest part of a rebuild, but I feel at this time it’s rock-bottom.”

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