Here comes Martone as Flyers ink their top prospect to entry-level deal

Porter Martone is headed to the Flyers.

A little over nine months after making him the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft, the Flyers signed Martone to his three-year entry-level contract Sunday.

The deal begins this season. Martone’s NHL debut could come next week, as early as Tuesday when the Flyers visit the Capitals (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP). The club then comes home Thursday for a matchup with the Red Wings (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

Martone is a 6-foot-3 winger with a multifaceted game. He can score from the areas in which you need offense, he sees the ice well and he plays with a competitive spirit.

As a 19-year-old freshman this season, Martone put up 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists) in 35 games for Michigan State. He had no points in just six of those 35 games. He finished with 15 multi-point games, 124 shots and a plus-24 rating.

“To see his maturity, the way he handles himself around the group, even around you guys — he’s a pretty comfortable kid as far as that,” Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr said last July. “I think once he gets with NHL players, he’s going to stand out that much more.”

Martone’s one-year college career ended Saturday night when the Spartans were upset by Wisconsin in the regional final of the NCAA Tournament. Martone will join a Flyers team that has made things pretty interesting in the playoff race. With 10 games to go, the club entered Sunday three points back of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot and four out of third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Martone is familiar with some of his new Flyers teammates. He played with three of them on Team Canada last May at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. General manager Danny Briere sought out Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim as he did his final homework on Martone ahead of the draft.

“The one thing that’s hard to know is a guy’s personality and who you’re actually getting,” Konecny said earlier this season. “I said, ‘That’s a guy you can work with, that’s a guy that’s going to compete, that’s a guy that’s willing to learn, become a pro, play the right way.’ You don’t really always get that information before the draft. And then on top of that, I mean, I think he can develop into a really special player.”

Wayne Simmonds scouted Martone four to five times at the junior level last season. The former Flyers winger was surprised the power forward fell to No. 6 in the draft.

“For us, we got lucky,” Simmonds said last July. “We’ll take that one, we’ll definitely take that one.”