Flyers prospect Martone leaves OHL for Michigan State
Published
Porter Martone, who was selected sixth overall by the Philadelphia Flyers last month, is latest CHL player making the leap to the NCAA for the upcoming season.
The 6-foot-3 top forward committed to Michigan State on Monday after finishing tied for seventh in Ontario Hockey League scoring with 37 goals and 98 points in 57 games. He spent the season serving as captain of the Brampton Steelheads.
His move to the NCAA comes just under two weeks after projected 2026 first-overall pick Gavin McKenna committed to Penn State University for the upcoming season. The NCAA Division I Council voted in November to change its rules to allow players who have skated in the CHL to play college hockey.
Martone was one of the busiest prospects throughout the 2024-25 campaign. He ended the 2024 season by captaining Team Canada at the Under-18 World Championship, leading his country to a gold medal.
To begin this past season, Martone was named captain of the Canadian Hockey League team at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge in November, taking the series in a two-game sweep over the Under-18 United States National Development Program Team.
He was then invited to Team Canada's selection camp for the 2025 World Juniors in Ottawa in December where he proceeded to make the team. He scored a goal in three games as Canada finished in fifth place.
Martone also joined Canada to play at the World Championship in Sweden and Denmark during in May, getting his first taste of playing with and against NHL talent. The Peterborough, Ont., native appeared in two games in the tournament as Canada also finished in fifth place.
"When I get to play in all those events, it's always a pleasure and an honour," Martone told TSN 1050 on July 3. "There are ups and downs in your draft year, just like any other year, but the big thing for me was to focus on the process and focus on getting better on different things.
"That's what I was trying to strive for every day, to just go to the rink and get better, and I also wanted to make the person playing beside me better as well."