Flyers take Martone at No. 6 to kick off their NHL draft 2025 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The Flyers made Porter Martone their 2025 NHL draft headliner, selecting him at No. 6 overall Friday night.
The 18-year-old is the captain of the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads. He’s arguably the top winger in this draft.
“He’s a pretty complete package,” Dan Marr, the vice president of NHL Central Scouting, said June 11 in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. “And I don’t think he gets recognized as much for his skills and smarts as what he brings.”
The 6-foot-3, 204-pounder has a slew of attributes that teams covet. He’s a dogged competitor, he forces turnovers and protects the puck along the boards, he sees the ice and he scores from the areas in which you need offense.
“He’s a good physical package and he can play that power forward game, but I think the tendency there might be that [people] don’t really recognize the skill set that he has,” Marr said. “Like, he’s a very offensively skilled player. He has got the offensive instincts, but he has got really good hands and good puck skills.”
Martone recorded 98 points (37 goals, 61 assists) and a plus-19 rating in 57 regular-season games for the 2024-25 Steelheads. He had seven games of four or more points; Michael Misa, the second overall pick who also played in the OHL, had eight such games. Martone added four goals and five assists in six playoff games.
He was considered the third-best player in the draft by EliteProspects.com. TSN’s Craig Button had him at No. 4, while NHL Central Scouting had him as the sixth-ranked North American skater.
In their system, the Flyers needed some help at right winger. Martone now gives them a big boost. Down the road, the Flyers’ right side will feature a pair of top-seven picks in Martone and Matvei Michkov.
The Flyers have two more first-round picks with Nos. 22 and 31.