NHL EDGE stats: Martone’s upside after debut with Flyers

NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we identify some key advanced metrics behind Porter Martone’s NHL debut for the Philadelphia Flyers.

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Forward Porter Martone made his NHL debut for the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, and the elite prospect could be a difference-maker during their late-season Stanley Cup Playoff push.

Martone had a game-high five shots on goal in Philadelphia’s 6-4 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. Martone, who was the No. 6 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, signed his entry-level contract with the Flyers on March 29.

The 19-year-old joins the resurgent Flyers, who are 8-2-1 in their past 11 games and in the postseason hunt in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia, which has missed the playoffs in each of the past five seasons, adds another promising young forward to a group that features 25-year-old Trevor Zegras (six-game point streak; tied NHL career high with 23 goals) and 21-year-old Matvei Michkov (No. 7 pick in 2023 NHL Draft).

Martone led Michigan State University in points (50) and goals (25) in 35 games as a freshman. That includes three points (one goal, two assists) in two games at the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Here are three underlying takeaways from Martone's debut that provide a glimpse of his offensive upside:

1. Offensive zone time percentage

Although it’s a small sample size, Martone ranks in the 96th percentile among forwards in offensive zone time percentage (46.9 percent; League average: 42.4 percent) at all strengths. Martone also is in the 95th percentile at the position in even-strength offensive zone time percentage (45.0 percent; League average: 41.3 percent).

In Martone’s NHL debut, he played mostly on a line with wing Travis Konecny (leads Flyers with 39 assists, 65 points) and center Christian Dvorak. That trio played the most minutes together at 5-on-5 of any Flyers forward line Tuesday.

Martone’s offensive zone time figures are impressive considering he only started two of his 16 shifts with a face-off in the offensive zone, the lowest percentage (12.5 percent) by any of Philadelphia’s 18 skaters on Tuesday.

2. Shots by location

Three of Martone’s five shots on goal in his debut came from the three regions in front of the net: one from the low-slot region (his only high-danger shot of the game), one from the left net-front region and one from the right net-front region.

Martone also had one midrange shot on goal and another from the outside-right region. Philadelphia is tied for fifth in midrange goals (81) as a team this season.

Martone’s high-danger shot, his best scoring chance of the night, came at 19:36 of the second period but was saved by Capitals goalie Logan Thompson; per NHL EDGE IQ, that shot by Martone had a Projected Goal Rate of 29.59 percent, making it a high-probability attempt.

He also led the Flyers in unblocked shot attempts (six) and was tied for their second-best 5-on-5 shot attempts differential (plus-11).

3. Power-play upside

Martone was inserted onto the first power play with forwards Konecny, Zegras and Noah Cates and defenseman Jamie Drysdale in his debut, an effort by coach Rick Tocchet to spark the Flyers' NHL-worst power play (15.3 percent).

Martone led Michigan State and was tied for eighth among NCAA players in power-play goals (eight) this season. Other encouraging shot metrics from Martone’s NHL debut include his hardest shot (85.91 mph), which already ranks higher than the NHL average (83.59), and his volume of snap shots on goal (three), an indicator of a quick release.

Even if Martone remains on Konecny’s line at even strength, he could build chemistry with Zegras, who leads the Flyers in power-play goals (eight) and power-play points (19) this season. Already immersed in the jam-packed Eastern Conference races for either the second or third spot in the Metropolitan Division or both wild-card spots, Martone already has provided a much-needed spark to the Flyers offense.