While the Flyers are navigating the early stages of the Rick Tocchet era, they seem to be playing well enough not to be bad. The future is not quite here yet. After all, the team demoted Jett Luchanko recently.
The Flyers are a nice blend of young, rising stars and older, solid vets. However, one of their stars of the future is making a name for himself in the college ranks. Hopefully, he is not far from joining this roster.
Porter Martone is a Star in the Making
The selection of Porter Martone was quite a shocking one in this year's draft. The Flyers were well stocked at right wing, and drafting one as talented as Martone was not expected. Most people felt that the Flyers should have selected a center or top-tier defender. It wasn't that Martone wasn't talented, but was right wing a position of need?
Martone then shocked everyone when he didn't return to the OHL and chose to go to Michigan State instead. He felt the collegiate route would give him the best experience needed to get to the NHL quickly. The level of competition he'd face there would be a lot better than what he'd face in the Canadian juniors.
So far, he is probably correct. Martone has played just six games for the Spartans. In those six games, he has scored three goals with six assists, including a four-point weekend this past weekend. Martone already has four multi-point outings. And he has only failed to register a point in one game. He leads the Spartans in assists and points and is riding a three-game point streak where he has registered six points.
Porter Martone makes it 1-0 Spartans in the first! Spartans get back to even strength and take the lead just seconds later. pic.twitter.com/4xQTGYRc5K
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 24, 2025
If he keeps this level of play up, you could probably expect to see Martone join the Flyers when the collegiate season is over this spring. It's too early to get excited right now, but it is hard not to be. He has been a scoring machine in the OHL. He could end up being one of the big playmakers who lead this team into the 2030s.