Porter Martone, who was selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.
The 19-year-old forward will join the Flyers for the remainder of the regular season. He will not play against the Dallas Stars at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday but could make his debut when the Flyers visit the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
"It's exciting. It's exciting for the organization to have to have him sign, join our team coming down the stretch here where we're playing meaningful games," Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said. "(It) gives him the chance to be around that, see how the guys prepare, what it's like, how the intensity is, playing meaningful games. And we'll see where it goes."
Martone led Michigan State with 25 goals and 50 points in 35 games as a freshman this season. He had an assist in the Spartans' season-ending 4-3 overtime loss to Wisconsin in the Worcester Regional final on Saturday.
"I don't know what kind of state he was in. I'm sure it was tough for him going through that," Briere said about the loss to Wisconsin. "And at the same time, you're so close to your dream of playing the NHL. I'm sure it was mixed feelings. It's a business, and for us, it was exciting to get them on our side. The one thing I'd like to say is how thankful we are to Michigan State, the coaching staff, his teammates there, how Porter embraced the role of going there, and also how much he developed this year. We give Michigan State a lot of credit for that. The whole staff there was really impressed with what they did with Porter, and we think he's pretty close to being ready to play in the NHL."
Martone had 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) in his final 19 games, including a hat trick against Notre Dame on Feb. 20. He finished his first college season with nine points (five goals, four assists) in a six-game point streak.
Martone was the only freshman named to the All-Big Ten First Team, and he was also named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
"The way he's developed physically, that was the biggest reason for encouraging the move to NCAA this season, to have a kind of a stepping stone from the OHL to the NHL," Briere said. "Developing his body, getting stronger. I think the amount of time he spent in the gym, you can see in his body how it's changed. It's almost going from a teenager to a man, and his play on the ice spoke for itself. You guys have all seen what he's done and how dominant he was. He took a step, too, because playing against men in the NCAA, there's a lot of strong players that are much older than the 16- and 17-year-olds in the CHL. So, it was a good stepping stone for him, and we feel he's developed nicely both physically and mentally and is almost close to being ready to be in the NHL."
Martone led the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship with six goals in seven games and had nine points for Canada as its captain.
He had opted for college hockey this season after he finished seventh in the Ontario Hockey League last season with 98 points (37 goals, 61 assists) in 57 games with Brampton.
"Just the way he plays the game, having a guy like that in our lineup," Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said on Sunday. "I'm not going to put the tag on him, but somebody's talking about, like, a Corey Perry type of guy. Those are hard to find. So, excited to have a guy like that."
