VOORHEES, N.J. — A contingent of fans and television cameras lined up along the glass Monday morning at Flyers Training Center.
This was not your typical skate for a handful of Flyers on an off day for the team.
The force behind the crowd: Porter Martone.
Just two days after his freshman season at Michigan State ended with a loss in the regional final of the NCAA Tournament, the 19-year-old was on the ice with some of his new Flyers teammates.
“Ever since you were a kid, this is the dream,” Martone said Monday. “It’s kind of surreal that it’s here.”
The Flyers’ top prospect signed his entry-level contract Sunday afternoon, officially turning pro and joining the big club for its final two-plus weeks of the season. The night before, Martone and the Spartans were upset in overtime, 4-3, by Wisconsin.
“I felt like we really created a brotherhood there at Michigan State, I love that place so much,” Martone said. “But then when I woke up in the morning, you get thinking of what’s the next step. To have the opportunity to come here with the Flyers and help them in a playoff push I think was a no-brainer for me. I’m really excited to be here.”
Martone, sporting No. 94 on his helmet, went through his on-ice workout with Tyson Foerster, Garrett Wilson, Noah Juulsen and a fill-in goalie. Martone departed before the rest of the players, perhaps a sign that his NHL debut is coming Tuesday when the Flyers visit the Capitals (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP). But that is not a definite, at least not yet publicly.
“We’re not closing down the window for Tuesday, assuming that everything goes according to plan,” general manager Danny Briere said Sunday. “There’s paperwork to be done, there’s a doctor’s appointment to be done, as well. We’re hopeful that Tuesday could be a game, but we’ll see. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.”
Martone, the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft, had a standout season at Michigan State. The 6-foot-3 winger put up 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists) in 35 games. 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.
“It was a good stepping stone for him,” Briere said. “We feel he has developed nicely both physically and mentally and is close to almost being ready to be in the NHL. We’ll see in the next few weeks.”
A reason why Martone left junior hockey to play collegiately was the opportunity to gain strength and face older competition. He had high praise for the Spartans’ staff and head coach Adam Nightingale. Martone said his InBody scans this season showed he went from around 198 pounds to 210 and he lost three percent body fat.
“I think I just really found my identity as a player and who I need to be to be successful,” Martone said. “Coach Nightingale really forced on me to play below the hash marks, play in front of the net. Another thing that he told me when I got there, and it was the truth, was that if I want to play at the NHL level, I’m going to have to play at a faster pace, I’m going to have to get faster. That was something that I really worked on there.”
The Flyers had Martone and 2025 second-rounder Shane Vansaghi to watch at Michigan State. The club was in consistent contact with the prospects, from director of player development Riley Armstrong to special advisors John LeClair and Patrick Sharp and player development coach Chris Stewart.
“The Flyers were great with me when I was there,” Martone said. “The whole development staff, I think they made probably 10 different trips to see me and Shane play there. I did video with Riley Armstrong every single week, just kind of what they wanted to see, what they wanted me to improve on. I think both sides, the Michigan State Spartans and Philly, did a great job for my development.”
Martone joins a Flyers team that is fueling a playoff push with some of its best hockey. The Flyers entered Monday just two points back of both third place in the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. They’ve gone 12-3-1 over their last 16 games and have nine games to go.
“Other than on TV, I’ve never really seen him play, but there’s a lot of hype around him, it’s exciting to have him around,” Sean Couturier said Sunday. “To have a young, talented guy like that that’s going to help us in the future and can help us right now is huge.”
The Flyers on Monday started to get Martone up to speed. He knows his transition to the highest level will require work.
“I’m going to have to keep an open mind and continue to learn every single day,” Martone said. “I’m coming into a room full of NHL players, NHL coaches, so I don’t think it’s just going to happen overnight. I think I’m going to have to learn and I think that this group is going to be perfect for me to kind of teach me the ropes.”
The Flyers will need more answers down the middle of the ice. Time will tell if some of their prospects turn into difference-makers or if Briere finds it necessary to get creative for addressing the center position.
But the GM sounded intrigued by his team’s outlook up front. Just on the wing, the Flyers have Martone, Foerster, Matvei Michkov, Denver Barkey, Alex Bump and Nikita Grebenkin all under the age of 25.
“You look at the development of Barkey and Bump lately — being honest, we didn’t think they’d give us as much as they’ve given us lately, so that’s encouraging,” Briere said. “Martone in the future. Tyson Foerster we’ve barely seen this year, another big piece of the future, on top of the guys that are already playing. There’s no doubt that our group of forwards is an exciting one.
“We’ll tinker and try to fill out all positions. Almost all the teams in the NHL, everybody has holes somewhere that they’d like to improve. We know what ours are and we’ll try to tinker with that along the way.”