Greg Wyshynski
Multiple Authors
PHILADELPHIA — The concourse of the Philadelphia Flyers‘ house area is an abundance of orange. It’s additionally a dwelling timeline, with every fan’s jersey marking a special period in the franchise’s historical past, from their final Stanley Cup in 1975 to the current. Names like Clarke, Hextall, Lindros, Giroux and Couturier are on the again.
But Flyers fan Brett Yetter opted for the future when he bought his jersey. He walked into Game 4 of their collection in opposition to the Pittsburgh Penguins carrying the title and variety of Porter Martone, who has spent solely 9 regular-season video games and 4 playoff video games with the Flyers.
Like Yetter, Martone is nineteen years outdated. Unlike many NHL rookies, Martone jumped from the NCAA right into a Stanley Cup playoff race and have become an instant sensation in Philadelphia.
“I had to get one. I’ve had no hope on this metropolis in, what, 10 years? [Matvei] Michkov, I obtained immediately. Martone, I obtained immediately,” Yetter mentioned. “Just give me hope. I’ll give you money.”
In reality, Martone has the NHL’s highest-selling jersey since the Stanley Cup playoffs started two weeks in the past. Those gross sales jumped 1,174% after Martone had profitable objectives in every of his first two playoff video games, as the Flyers try to win their first postseason collection since 2020.
“This is the best time of the year. The stakes are high,” Martone mentioned. “It’s been exciting times in Philly. And it’s exciting that this early in my career I get a taste of playoff hockey.”
Martone was chosen No. 6 by the Flyers in June. The Peterborough, Ontario, native match the organizational purview: an influence ahead with a playmaker’s fingers and an antagonistic streak befitting of a Flyer. More than a number of scouts, analysts and coaches have in contrast his recreation to that of one-time NHL MVP Corey Perry, each for his offensive expertise and his penchant for malice.
Craig Button, director of scouting for TSN and a former NHL common supervisor, has all the time been stunned by Martone’s compete stage.
“What I like about his game is his game. He’s in it to win it. Players like him are unique. He plays on his toes. He’ll jam a puck into the net. He’ll grind on the boards. And he’ll stick you. He’s got a lot of what Corey Perry has,” Button mentioned. “He’s confident. He’s got the attitude.”
Martone accommodates multitudes. He’s the man who had 10 factors in 9 regular-season video games to assist the Flyers make the playoffs, the place he then has had three factors by means of 4 video games. Martone can also be the man who caught his tongue out at the Penguins bench, and whose habits provoked Evgeni Malkin to jab him in the face and Bryan Rust to bend his head again by pulling Martone’s hair at the finish of Game 4.
“I learned how to be on that fine line. I don’t want to be in the penalty box all game, because I think I’m more valuable on the ice,” Martone mentioned. “You’ve got to play with that emotion but you can’t go over that line. It’s got to be at the proper times. You just have to manage your emotions.”
His teammates marvel at how prepared Martone has been for the playoff grind and the Battle of Pennsylvania.
“I think about when I was 19, I wasn’t even close to a playoff game. I think a lot of us kind of joke about that,” ahead Garnet Hathaway mentioned. “He’s a great kid, and he’s ready for this league, obviously. But he doesn’t act that way, doesn’t show it. He’s humble and he wants to learn and he wants to improve. So I don’t think you can even put a ceiling on what he could be.”
MARTONE IS IN THE NHL NOW as a result of he felt he was bodily and mentally ready to flip professional.
“I made the jump to the NHL because I thought I was ready. I thought it was my time,” he mentioned. “If I didn’t, then I would have stayed at Michigan State for another year.”
Button had Martone fourth on his draft board final June. He was satisfied Martone may make an instant affect with the Flyers due to the path he took as a prospect, shifting from the Ontario Hockey League to Michigan State this season.
Martone had 98 factors in 57 video games with the Brampton Steelheads final season, sparking hypothesis that he may play a season of school hockey earlier than becoming a member of the Flyers. Michigan State and coach Adam Nightingale went exhausting after Martone after watching phenom Gavin McKenna spurn them for convention rival Penn State, and top-line ahead Isaac Howard depart for the Edmonton Oilers.
“I think a year at Michigan State, it helped him tremendously because he had outgrown playing in juniors. He was ready for the next step,” Button mentioned. “I think what Porter did this year was ideal for him to be able to come in and have that impact with the Flyers.”
Martone credited Nightingale and the Spartans program with serving to him refine his recreation.
“I think just really found my identity as a player and who I need to do to be successful,” he mentioned. “Coach Nightingale really forced on me to play below the harsh marks, play in front of the net. He said if I want to play at an NHL level, I have to play faster. That’s something I really worked on there.”
In the NCAA, Martone confronted older, bigger and extra bodily competitors. Button felt having older friends benefited Martone’s maturity greater than taking part in in Canadian juniors.
“You’re not just maturing in college physically, you’re maturing socially,” he mentioned. “When you’re around teammates that are a little older, you’re understanding them and you’re understanding yourself.”
Button additionally felt the “grind” of the school hockey observe and recreation schedule ready him for the NHL.
“It’s an advertisement for those kids to go and play an NCAA year, and then just turn pro in March,” Button mentioned. “You don’t have to start pro in October, just wait six months and be ready.”
Flyers GM Daniel Briere mentioned the time at Michigan State was important for Martone’s progress as an individual.
“Physically. That was the biggest reason for encouraging the move to the NCAA this season: To have a stepping step from the OHL to the NHL. To get stronger,” he mentioned. “For the amount of time he’s spent in the gym, you can see in his body how it’s changed. It’s almost gone from a teenager to a man.”
WHEN COACH RICK TOCCHET was a participant on the Flyers, he was an influence ahead that would rating 40 objectives whereas being a bodily presence in the powerful areas of the ice and ceaselessly antagonize his opponents.
In case you had been questioning if he is a Porter Martone fan.
“Love the kid,” Tocchet mentioned. “He’s just a hockey player. He loves the game. He’s not afraid to say something either and I like that.”
Tocchet is conscious of the wave of hype that Martone is driving. Fans anticipated his arrival as one thing akin to an enormous commerce deadline acquisition. His first dozen video games with Philadelphia solely amplified the hype. Tocchet has appreciated how he has dealt with it.
“His head’s not too big. I love that about a 19-year-old kid. It’s not like I’ve had to tell him to tone him down. Basically, he seems like a veteran to me,” the coach mentioned.
“I think what’s important for me is that we know he’s 19 years old, but he doesn’t act like it. He’s really an unflappable kid. He’s mixed in with the guys, the veterans that he’s at dinner with, all the guys. You can just tell. His personality’s great. And that’s why I love him.”
The Flyers have certainly one of the youngest rosters in the postseason. The veteran gamers of their core — captain Sean Couturier, ahead Travis Konecny and defenseman Travis Sanheim amongst them — have been tasked with serving to to assimilate the lesser-experienced gamers.
Rookie Denver Barkey, 21, performed 43 video games in the common season. He has competed in opposition to Martone throughout his “whole life,” together with in Canadian juniors when Barkey performed for the OHL London Knights.
“He’s always been so special. Since he was drafted here, I’ve been able to see how much he loves the game, his passion for it,” Barkey mentioned. “Also his work ethic, just working on little things after practice, stuff like that. So I mean, it’s not surprising he’s doing this.”
Barkey mentioned the Flyers veterans made him really feel at “home” on the group.
“Before my first game, I had my linemates just telling me, ‘Go out there, play your game. Don’t worry about making a turnover. Just go out there, have fun, enjoy it,'” he recalled. “I think those little things just go a long way. You’re a little nervous and don’t know what to expect. And I know they’ve done the same with Porter.”
Couturier, who has been the Flyers’ captain for the previous three seasons, acknowledged that he hasn’t had to be too hands-on with Martone.
“He’s a mature kid that he knows the game really well. He’s responsible on both sides of the puck and really there’s not much to tell him,” he mentioned. “You just kind of want to make sure he stays in the moment and not think too far ahead. It’s all about the moment. I’m sure he’s enjoying it.”
Even as their current is spectacular — with the Flyers nonetheless poised to advance previous the first spherical in opposition to the Penguins, main the collection 3-1 — it is exhausting not to take into consideration the future in Philadelphia. They Flyers gamers getting into their prime in Trevor Zegras (25), Cam York (25), Tyson Foerster (24) and Jamie Drysdale (24). Behind them is an unimaginable tier of skills led by Martone (19), Michkov (21), Barkey (21), Oliver Bonk (21) and others.
Whatever transpires this postseason, the expertise a few of these gamers are getting will probably be very important to the Flyers maturing right into a Stanley Cup contender. That’s very true for Martone.
“We’re not expecting Porter to be a savior. Far from that. For us, it’s giving him the chance to grow and play some meaningful games,” Briere mentioned earlier this season.
As others mentioned, Martone has dealt with his arrival in the NHL with a startling maturity and effectivity.
“I think you forget his age, with the way he carries himself, the way he prepares, the way he even talks about his own game,” Hathaway mentioned. “You forget how a kid who’s 19 can be like that. And it’s a testament to how he was raised and the people he has around him.”
But there’s part of Martone that is nonetheless the rookie drafted final June, the one who grew up a hockey fanatic and now finds himself making an attempt to win a Stanley Cup playoff collection in opposition to Sidney Crosby. He’s a professional, and he performs like one. But typically, the 19-year-old comes by means of.
“You dream of playing in the NHL,” Martone mentioned, “and now you’re living it.”
