Porter Martone signs entry-level contract with Flyers, poised to make NHL debut this week

Porter Martone’s college season came to an end late on Saturday afternoon. Less than 24 hours later, his college career officially ended as well, and his time as a Philadelphia Flyers player began.

At 1:00 PM on Sunday, the Flyers officially announced that Martone — who the club selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2025 draft back in June of last year — signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the club. Before, the Flyers only owned Martone’s NHL rights. Now, he’s officially a member of the organization, and can play for the Flyers in NHL games — as soon as this season, as the first year of the contract begins right now.

Martone was already a highly-touted prospect entering this season, given his status as a top-10 pick. But his stock has only risen over the past nine months, as he established himself as one of the top freshmen in college hockey, finishing with 25 goals and 50 points in 35 games for Michigan State. Unfortunately for Martone and his teammates, the Spartans were upset on Saturday afternoon by Wisconsin, knocking them out of the NCAA tournament just one win away from a Frozen Four appearance.

Michigan State’s loss was the Flyers’ gain, however, as the end to Martone’s college season opened the door for him to turn pro and sign his first NHL contract, which he did on Sunday.

Martone will almost certainly be in attendance for Sunday night’s Flyers game against the Dallas Stars, but he won’t dress for the game. A team source told PHLY that Martone still needed to handle a few personal duties and also had to be cleared by Flyers doctors before officially deemed game-ready. Plus, Martone did just play on Saturday — there’s little need for Martone to make his NHL debut in the second game of a back-to-back.

But expect Martone to be joining the Flyers’ lineup soon — possibly as soon as Tuesday night in Washington against the Capitals, and certainly for the team’s pivotal home matchup on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings, who also factor heavily in the Eastern Conference playoff race. There’s an obvious spot in the top-nine available for Martone — the spot held by Carl Grundström, who currently is playing left wing on a line with Noah Cates and Matvei Michkov — and presumably Martone would slide right into that vacated place.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean Porter Martone will begin his NHL career on the same line as fellow top-10 pick Michkov; head coach Rick Tocchet could easily decide to juggle the line combinations to accommodate Martone. It’s worth remembering that Martone is a natural right wing, and if the Flyers want him to begin his NHL career at his best position, one of Michkov, Travis Konecny or Owen Tippett (the team’s current right-side wingers) would have to move over to LW to make way for the rookie. All three have played left wing at the NHL level, and all are plausible candidates to shift.

There are debates in the hockey world regarding Martone’s ultimate NHL ceiling. Some (including the Flyers) believe he has star-level potential, in the form of a physical, agitating offensive weapon, capable both of scoring goals in high-danger areas and setting up teammates with elite vision and hockey sense. Skeptics point to concerns over his skating and (especially) pace, and worry that he’ll be more a middle-of-the-lineup scorer against NHL competition. But this point, Martone’s skillset has translated at every level, and he even has brief experience against NHL competition to draw from, as he played for Canada at World Championships last year.

Two of Martone’s teammates from that Team Canada squad? Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim, who now will be his full-time teammates in the NHL. They’ll be hoping that Martone provides a late-season boost to the Flyers in their attempts to nab one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference over the last two weeks of the 2025-26 season, and that Martone quickly establishes himself as an impact-level NHL player, setting himself up for his first full-time NHL campaign in 2026-27.

Porter Martone’s days as a mere prospect (the team’s No. 1 prospect, to be fair) are at an end. He is now officially a Philadelphia Flyer.