The Philadelphia Flyers have gotten off to a very shaky start under third-year head coach John Tortorella. After seven games, the franchise currently sits in last place in the Metropolitan Division with only three points.

While Philadelphia is currently the fourth youngest team in the NHL, the pressure is on the franchise to show some progress this year with their recent run of poor results. The Flyers began this season coming off a four-year postseason drought and haven't won a playoff series since 2012.

With these struggles in mind, Philadelphia made a major decision on Saturday on one of their brightest young stars. John Tortorella's team has sent rookie C Jett Luchanko back to the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League, according to NHL Insider Chris Johnston. This decision comes four months after the Flyers surprisingly selected the Luchanko with the 13th pick in the 2024 NHL draft.

Jett Luchanko has struggled in his rookie season

Philadelphia Flyers center Jett Luchanko (17) during the second period against the New York Islanders at Wells Fargo Center.
Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Luchanko became the youngest player in franchise history when he was drafted by Philadelphia and made a very good first impression in training camp on Tortorella and Flyers' GM Daniel Briere. That form hasn't translated to the regular season where Jett has only seen action in four games so far.

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In those four games, the Flyers' rookie center hasn't scored a point and his team has been outscored by three goals when he's been on the ice. These lack of results has led to this major decision on the NHL's current youngest player.

Much of Philadelphia's early struggles trace back to their lackluster offense so far this season. To this point, the team ranks third last in goals per game at 2.29. The team does have some very encouraging young talent in players like Luchanko and second-year star Matvei Michkov. The 19-year old Russian currently leads the roster in points with seven.

Despite the brutal start, John Tortorella's job security is safe with the Flyers for now. However, things can change quickly if Philadelphia continues the form they've had during their six game losing streak after winning their season opener.

Sending Luchanko down to the OHL isn't an unusual thing for a franchise to do with a young, promising player. But it's clear that the Flyers are not satisfied with his performance so far if they are making this decision this early into the year. Still, there's plenty of time for Jett and the franchise as a whole to redeem themselves with 75 games to look forward to this season.