Porter Martone 2025 NHL Draft Scouting Report

Vitals

Position: Right Wing

Age on Draft Day: 18

Height, Weight: 6'3", 204 pounds

2024-25 stats (OHL): 57 GP, 37 G, 61 A

Scouting Report

Porter Martone may have the best pure hockey sense in this year's draft class. Unfortunately, he's not always inclined to use it.

One of his greatest strengths is his hockey sense and vision. At his best, he's able to project how plays could unfold before they even take place. He can set his teammates up for success with his excellent playmaking instincts.

He can use that sense to deceive opponents or find gaps in their coverage to get a pass off to precisely where his teammate is going to be. 

And he knows where that teammate is going to be. His hockey sense isn't limited to reading unfolding plays. Rather, it's as if he got the play-by-play of the game before it happened, and he knows his teammates inside and out, so he knows what moves to expect from linemates and opponents alike. His anticipation allows him to be thinking three steps ahead of everyone else on the ice (when he's engaged). 

His puck skills are also phenomenal—shooting, passing, handling, he ticks all the boxes. On multiple occasions this season, we witnessed Martone make passes that are NHL-level. He could be an elite playmaker if he gives himself the chance to be. No-look passes are made like they're the simplest option on the board, and minor movements are used to manipulate defenders to create opportunities. He's unreal.

The physical side of Martone's game is used less often, but what we have seen is mostly positive. He's able to use his size and reach not only while making plays but also on the forecheck and when going for loose pucks.

The problem is Martone is not the player described above on every shift. I said this earlier in the season, and it remains true:

"Martone will hang back on plays until he spots the moment he can dive in and take advantage of a free puck, an opportunity to shoot, a moment where he can make a brilliant pass to a teammate. He's not involved in the play the entire time it unfolds—just when it's convenient for him. That brilliant hockey sense is a double-edged sword because it allows him to dive in at exactly the right moment and score anyway."

His greatest strength has the potential to completely hamstring him if he doesn't check himself, and soon. 

Remaining on the perimeter of play and cherry-picking his moments aside, Martone also has an issue with not using his physicality productively.

Rather than throwing a hit to separate an opposing player from the puck, he will choose to throw a hit to start something with his opponent. While the latter can be of value at times (specifically if you do it legally), he needs to prioritize the former, especially given what he can do with the puck when he has it. 

We saw his scoring this season. We saw the hot streaks he's capable of getting on, the incredible passes he makes to his linemates. Now imagine what his stat line would look like if he really dove in and got involved on every single play, every single shift, and used the physicality we know he has to separate opponents from pucks rather than to simply rile them up.

From an overall perspective, Martone needs to place his focus next season on improving his general lack of engagement. He has the skill set to be an incredible player in the NHL.

He just seems determined to take the easy route, and with the way the league is evolving, that isn't going to work out the way he wants it to.

Draft Outlook

Martone will almost certainly be selected in the top five. Which team out of that five picks him is another story entirely.

I can see the 18-year-old going as high as first overall if the New York Islanders trade their pick or decide to take a risky swing, but I can also see him dropping if someone like the Chicago Blackhawks or the Utah Mammoth decide they want to go entirely off board and pick someone ranked slightly lower whose stock has been on the rise recently, like Brady Martin or Anton Frondell.

As far as the post-draft development goes, the kind of player we'll see Martone turn into is up to Martone. If he addresses the primary glaring issue with his game, we'll see him winning NHL awards down the road. If he doesn't, he could flame out and end up a bottom-six energy guy. (And there's nothing wrong with being a bottom-six player—the league needs those guys—but that's not where his potential is pointing.)

Rumor has it that Martone is making the leap to NCAA hockey in the fall. If he doesn't, I would love to see him get a nine-game NHL tryout as a sort of cold-water shock to realize that his game of floating around the outside and cherry-picking won't fly at the higher levels and he has to engage and use his toolbox. 

Regardless, his future is in his own hands. (Ideally with the support of a good development staff.)  His ceiling is a high-scoring first-line winger. When he's on top of his game, he's extremely fun to watch. He's got some work to do before he is that player on a day-to-day basis. At the end of the day, I have faith in him, but I'm not going to knock anyone who has reservations.

Loose Stylistic Comparables

Mikko Rantanen (if his potential bears out)

Michael Dal Colle (if it doesn't)