The Philadelphia Flyers are watching the fruits of their labor work out after undergoing a rebuild years ago. The team made it into the playoffs last year and even made it to the second round. Now, the vibes are undoubtedly positive in Philadelphia. Sure, while the likes of Trevor Zegras and Dan Vladar have seen their popularity increase, there is no one that fans are looking more forward to watching play than Porter Martone.
The 2025 first-round pick made his pro debut late last season, was a point-per-game player in the final stretch of the regular season, and put up five points in 10 playoff games. Considering that was just a limited amount of playing time, Flyers fans are excited to see just what he could bring with a full season's of work.
In terms of his projections, Flyers fans will get excited to see which players Martone is being compared to entering an important season.
Porter Martone draws Jason Robertson comparison in The Athletic's prospect rankings
The Athletic recently published an article ranking the top prospects across the entire league on a tier system after talking with scouts. For Martone, he ended up in the second tier, which is designated for top 30 players in the league and best players on a contending team. During the evaluation, Martone drew comparisons to two top players in the league, one of them being Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson.
Martone's excellent freshman year and, maybe even more importantly, his strong play in the NHL at the end of the regular season in particular, really sold the league on his status as one of the game's future top power forwards," The Athletic writes. "Mikko Rantanen and Jason Robertson, who are both Tier 2 wingers in Player Tiers this year, feel like attainable — if a little lofty — projections for Martone."
Flyers fans will certainly sign up for Martone to having a similar career as Robertson, who has already shown to be one of the top young scorers in the game, and one of the most sought after players in free agency.
Robertson has only gotten better as the years went on. In the 2021-22 season, Robertson recorded 11 game-winning goals, the most of any player in the league. The following season, he made the All-Star Game, where he put up a career-best 109 points in 82 games. This past season, Robertson recorded 96 points (45 goals, 51 assists) in 82 games.
This offseason, Robertson was a restricted free agent, and the Stars were engaging in trade talks with other teams. The St. Louis Blues and Seattle Kraken made offers for Robertson, but the winger vetoed both trades. Instead, Robertson opted to remain with the Stars for another season before hitting unrestricted free agency, where he will for sure be one of the most coveted players.
If Martone can produce offensively at Robertson's level, the Flyers may have their face of the franchise set for the foreseeable future.
Porter Martone already has Calder Trophy expectations heading into next Flyers season
The Flyers are sticking with relatively the same roster as last season's. The Flyers are banking on their younger players to play even better with more games under their belt. That includes Martone.
In fact, The Athletic revealed their Top 20 candidates to win the Calder Trophy for best rookie of the year, and Martone is considered the early favorite. If Martone lives up to and exceeds expectations, he could very well be the first Flyers player to ever win the Calder Trophy.
In a limited sample size last season, Martone looks to be a legitimate difference-maker for the team. He's only going to get better, especially if he receives top line minutes and opportunities on their top power play unit. With that, his points total should skyrocket, and that will help the team make it back to the playoffs out of the Metropolitan Division.
We'll see if Martone will be able to have a similar career as Robertson in terms of production, but it's difficult not to get excited about that potential, especially with the regular season a matter of weeks away.
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