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Porter Martone’s big first week for Flyers is turning heads
Porter Martone’s arrival in Philadelphia has made for little short of a revelation.
Since signing his entry-level deal and joining the Flyers just a week ago, he’s stepped up to make an immedi...
Porter Martone’s arrival in Philadelphia has made for little short of a revelation.
Since signing his entry-level deal and joining the Flyers just a week ago, he’s stepped up to make an immediate and significant impact — Martone has jumped right in and flourished within the increased pace of play, and brought a confidence in playmaking that’s given the team’s offense an undeniable boost when they’ve needed it most. He’s been buzzing since his arrival, but he put just about as big of an exclamation point on a strong first week as possible last night, scoring his first NHL goal on the power play in overtime, to push his team into a playoff spot.
MARTY McFLYER. pic.twitter.com/C2yTwVPZ6q— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 5, 2026
Martone has been just what the team has needed, and it’s been impossible not to be impressed by how well he’s risen to the size of this moment.
“Yeah, it’s impressive,” his centerman Christian Dvorak said after the game, “not easy to do that, coming from college and right into a playoff race. So, yeah, like I said, it’s very impressive. He’s, you know, big body, but really smart, high hockey IQ player and it’s really important to this league. So, it’s been uh great to play with him.”
Martone has been able to fit seamlessly into the professional game, and it’s not just that he’s keeping his head above water and surviving out there, but he’s making confident plays that are not too often seen from rookies as fresh as him, and that are also contributing tangibly to goals put on the board.
The rookie and the vet get us going. 🤝#BOSvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/cXAg5LqdL5— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 5, 2026
The overtime winner was certainly a huge moment for him and the team alike, but the play he made in the first period to set up Dvorak’s goal was a much more impressive play, still. To pull off that play — pulling the puck off the wall, threading it between the legs, and hitting Dvorak right on the tape in stride — took a huge amount of skill, but also a willingness on a more fundamental level to engage in one of the harder areas along the boards in the first place. And, what’s more, it’s a play that’s immediately in line with what the Flyers’ coaching staff has been asking of their players all season long.
“Well, it’s a wall [play],” head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game, “It’s [something] I’ve been talking about that all year. Like to be where you want to go, you need that wall play sometimes, right? And he has that wall play, you know, technique, you know, he’s got, he’s off the wall, you know, he makes the touch play. Those are the things that, you know, I’m sure he worked all all the summer, you know, that wall stuff and, you know, he’ll even get better at that… so yeah, sky’s the limit for him.”
Martone’s had a lot to learn on the fly as he’s joined this team right in the thick of this late-season push, but between the preparation he did at the college level and the natural strengths of his game, he’s proved to be quite a seamless fit into the scheme that the Flyers are running here.
“You can just tell he’s a hockey player,” Tocchet emphasized. “He loves the game. Even on the bench, you tell him something or he, you know, he’s just a very engaged kid. He was not afraid to say something. He was talking about the power play to some guys, [like] ‘hey, I’ll be here, you’ll be here’. I like that a young kid [is] that doing that. So, you could just tell he’s been around. And you know, he’s just a hockey player and love the kid.”
It’s been plain to see, even from the outside, that Martone is taking in every bit of this opportunity and making the most of it. His game hasn’t been overly complicated, but he’s shown a real dedication to creating dangerous chances, always looking for a good opportunity to open up, and avoided falling into frustration when none of those early looks — of which there were many — went for him. He’s been given a significant role to work with, between usage at the top of the lineup at even strength as well as on the power play, but no moment so far has seemed too big for him. He’s staying in the moment, keeping engaged throughout the game, wherever he’s at, and that simplified approach which has come from good preparation leading up to this point seems to be paying dividends.
“Yeah, you know, I think, you know, I got to give a lot of credit to Michigan State. What they did with me this year, really translated me, my game into kind of a pro style. You know, I kind of said when I was coming here, you know, I didn’t really get a training camp to adjust or, you know, start the season. And I feel like I’ve kind of got thrown into the thick of it, you know, right in the playoff picture, but you know, everyone in this locker room has done a tremendous job from the coaching staff to players just really getting me ready and, you know, just trying to come and and give this team any help I can.
The college game has clearly done a lot to prepare Martone for this moment, but in there, too, seems an innate degree of clutchness in his game — after all, Michigan State really didn’t use Martone much at all in their overtime schemes, so he wasn’t coming into last night’s game with a deep well of experience in that area, but still, he found a way to deliver.
This is a critical stretch that Martone’s found himself dropped into — the Flyers are, indeed, playing some of their most meaningful games of the last decade through this final part of the season — but despite that, he’s doing all he can to keep this moment from getting too outsized and altering his approach.
“I think for me,” he concluded, “you know, ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be an NHL player and now that I’m here, I’m just gonna, you know, continue to play my game and and do what I do best.”
Martone’s best has been a tremendous asset to the team so far, and it’s going to be just what they need as they stare down this final week and change of the regular season.
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