It’s not that often that fans of the Philadelphia Flyers care so much about the comings and goings of the Ontario Hockey League, unless they reside in the province of Ontario, but this year is different with top prospect Jett Luchanko being such a hot topic as of late.
Ever since the Flyers sent the 19-year-old center back to the OHL’s Guelph Storm after not being able to carve out a full-time role other than being a fourth-line pivot, there have been countless rumors of a potential trade of one of the better prospects still in the top Canadian junior league. Luchanko has been able to have a steady production diet going, with two goals and 11 points in the eight games he has played, but everyone has to be thinking that instead of on a Guelph team that currently sits seventh in the Western Conference standings with an 11-8-2-0 record, his talents could be better utilized on a contending junior team for his final year before becoming a full-time professional player.
Well, now we might get a clearer timeline thanks to a big announcement that was made on Thursday afternoon.
The Guelph Storm will be hosting the 2027 Memorial Cup, which for those who are not junior hockey fanatics, is the round-robin tournament that features the OHL champion, WHL champion, QMJHL champion, and the host team.
Get ready to celebrate Guelph🌪️
The 2027 #MemorialCup is coming to you!@Storm_City | @CHLHockey | @KubotaCanadaLtd pic.twitter.com/yoq5hE2xqO
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 20, 2025
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But, why does this best-on-best tournament happening to declare the top team in the CHL two years from now, affect Luchanko?
What Guelph hosting the 2027 Memorial Cup means for Luchanko
Considering that the Storm are a team still in the middle of a rebuild, with their top players other than Jett Luchanko being eligible for the 2026 and 2027 NHL Drafts, they now have to eye the target of the 2027 Memorial Cup as a quasi deadline to be competitive once again. And while they would certainly like to be a playoff team this season and try their hardest to maybe win a round or two, it wouldn’t serve that Memorial Cup-fueled purpose to keep some potential trade pieces.
Luchanko could be the biggest fish of them all in the OHL trade market. We’ve already seen other first-round draft picks get moved like Ben Danford’s trade from Oshawa to Brantford earlier this season; and unless the Calgary Flames return defenseman Zayne Parekh to Saginaw, there isn’t a bigger name than Luchanko’s out there.
It’s the perfect combination then that should equal to Jett Luchanko being traded from Guelph very soon. The Storm have the most coveted prize in the league and a goal to ice a very good hockey team next season — everything is crystal clear now and even more so than when the trade rumors started to arise earlier this season.
Why a Luchanko trade now
According to some minor reports around the Twitter accounts who deal with OHL trade rumors, there was a deal in place for Jett Luchanko to head to the Windsor Spitfires. It makes perfect sense (and still does), they need a first-line center to complement fellow Flyers prospect Jack Nesbitt taking that role and they find themselves solely competing with the Brantford Bulldogs as the OHL’s top team.
But the main problem was that this decision regarding the 2027 Memorial Cup was not finalized. It was between Guelph and Kitchener on who would get to be named host and without that being certain, a trade could not be finalized. Because even if the Storm are going to trade Luchanko no matter what, whether or not they are going to take part in the Memorial Cup and to not embarrass themselves, could mean they have a preferred trade return.
The OHL is famous for the trades of NHL prospects netting the selling team several (or even dozens of) draft picks. Basically a team recognizing that this could be their one shot at junior hockey glory with some players leaving in the near future, and selling the future farm to increase their odds. Guelph could have easily done that at any time, but draft picks aren’t going to formalize into anything worthwhile for the next season’s Memorial Cup. Now that they are guaranteed a spot as host, the Storm will be looking for players that will make them as competitive as possible as soon as next season.
An example of what a trade could look like is when the Sarnia Sting parted ways with former top pick Porter Martone (oh, look at that) to go all-in with defenseman Ethan Del Mastro. Martone made the then Mississauga Steelheads better right away, scoring 22 points in 33 games at 16 years old and then evolved into being their best player for two more seasons. It wasn’t a boatload of draft picks but a young player instead.
All of this is to say that we could see Luchanko be moved (maybe to Windsor) in the coming weeks or even days. Guelph knows everything it needs to know about what kind of return they want and know that the 19-year-old Flyers prospect is the top trade target in the OHL. Now, they just need to work something out.