Martone has size, talent to be ticketed for top-5 pick in 2025 NHL Draft

PLYMOUTH, Michigan -- One of the first adjectives used to describe Porter Martone is loud, on and off the ice.

Where the top 2025 NHL Draft forward prospect cranks up the volume the most is with his physical play and strength around the opposition net, creating havoc like forwards Corey Perry of the Edmonton Oilers and Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers.

"I really like to model my game after those two players," Martone (6-foot-3, 196 pounds) said Friday while skating with Canada at the 2024 World Junior Summer Showcase, an evaluation camp for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. "I think they're both incredible players, and you can see Tkachuk had a big impact in the playoffs. I like to be a good teammate as well and just kind of always make sure everyone around me is feeling OK and just try to go out on the ice every night and win."

That approach is why the 17-year-old is an early candidate to be a top-five pick in the 2025 draft.

Last season, Martone was second for Mississauga (now Brampton) of the Ontario Hockey League with 71 points (33 goals, 38 assists) in 60 games, and had six points (one goal, five assists) in five OHL playoff games.

"He plays the game very similar to Corey Perry," Brampton coach James Richmond said. "He's always in and around the net, poking at players, and then if he's not poking he's talking to you. The other team wants to get him off his game because he's a point producer and he's yapping back at them, and he's a big, strong kid.

"There's no fear to him. He plays in front of the net and in the [defensive] zone he'll block shots, he'll scrap. He wants the puck all the time. He doesn't want to lose a face-off if he takes the face-off. He doesn't want to lose the puck battle. He is scratching and clawing for everything.

"And when he gets the puck on his stick, you go, 'Oh my God, that is silky.' So with the click of his fingers, all of a sudden he switches from the mean, nasty beast type of a guy to a real silky guy, where it's going through his legs and shooting between his legs up at the top of the net. That's not supposed to happen. You have one or the other, but you're not supposed to have both, and he's got both."

Martone took another step with Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Under-18 Championship. He was captain of the team that won the gold medal and was second on the team in scoring with 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in seven games.

"Porter Martone is a beast," NHL Central Scouting's Nick Smith said. "He is a game breaker with some bite. He has soft hands with a knack for scoring goals. He sees the ice extremely well and makes the guys he plays with better. 

"He goes to the hard areas to score goals with his physical presence and can back it up as well. He's a leader and the guy you want on the ice when the game is on the line. He needs to continue to improve his skating and footwork, but that will come."

Martone said it was a surprise and a privilege to be captain of the World Under-18 team, but for Richmond, it was an obvious choice. He said Martone is on his short list to be captain in Brampton this season.

"Guys gravitate toward him in the room," Richmond said. "He's one of our leaders. Last year he was too young, really, to wear a letter or anything like that. But he's one of the leaders on our team. Even the older guys gravitate toward him because he's so fun to be around."

That joyful approach came early for Martone, who began skating on his family's backyard pond in Peterborough, Ontario, as a 2-year-old.

"I've always been in love with the game," he said. "My dad [Mike Martone] was a hockey player, he played in the OHL, was drafted in the NHL. So he got me into skates first and I told my parents, 'I'll just play hockey forever.' I just fell in love there right away."

Mike Martone was a defenseman selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the fourth round (No. 106) of the 1996 NHL Draft but never made the NHL. He played five seasons in the minor leagues, then moved into coaching, with Porter and his younger sister, Audrey.

"He's definitely a big influence on me," Martone said. "He's hard on me so there were some arguments at times, but he knows what's best for me and he's just always there to push me. I always listen to him. Maybe there might be some arguments the odd time, but I know he knows best, so I have to listen to him."

The best advice he has gotten is to keep making the rink a fun place for himself and those around him.

"Go to the rink every day with a positive attitude and try to get better," he said. "You're never at your limit so you can always get better every day you come to the rink."

Better for Martone this season would be taking control in each game he plays.

"I always say before games I want to go out there and dominate so I want to go out there and dominate even more," he said. "Maybe hold onto the puck a little longer, make sure I'm making the right plays. And if I do that, everything should work out."