Porter Martone is staking his claim as the top winger for the 2025 NHL Draft
Porter Martone is doing his best to stake a claim atop the 2025 NHL Draft class.
Martone, one of several players to emerge as a potential top pick after an excellent start to the season, continues to lock in his spot as a potential top-five draft choice. The 18-year-old has cruised along to the beat of 62 points (22 goals, 40 assists) in just 32 games. That puts him on pace for 115 points (41 goals, 74 assists) in a 59-game season, which would be the highest from a draft eligible from the Ontario Hockey League since Marco Rossi netted 120 points (39 goals, 81 assists) in advance of the 2020 draft.
With the production Martone has managed this season, along with his physical stature as a budding 6-foot-3, 208-pound winger, there’s an obvious link to what makes him a highly coveted draft choice. It’s no secret — general managers love players with size and skill.
But under the surface, is Martone a truly game-breaking, top three talent?
What allows him to be so dominant in juniors?
Will those skills be able to translate to the NHL?
Martone’s skating
Martone, No. 3 in FCHockey’s Winter ranking for the 2025 draft, is an average skater. There are moments where his skating can hold him back in certain situations. Throughout my viewings, which spanned four games, including one from last season, there were instances where he was just a tick behind a play due to his skating. However, it isn’t a significant issue in his game, and it is something that has already shown improvement over time.
What makes his skating even less of a concern is the fact that he thinks and plays the game at a pretty fast pace, with strong stickhandling skills and vision to make quick passing sequences. Thus, his faster pace and thinking place his skating concerns, which aren’t really concerns, lower on the importance scale. If he can add more to his skating, especially his edges and short-area bursts, he could elevate his game even further. That could be especially helpful when transitioning to the NHL, where everyone thinks faster, plays faster, and, more importantly in this case, skates faster.
Offensive zone impacts
Martone is unbelievable in the offensive zone. A quick glance at his stats, and even the most casual hockey fan could come to that same conclusion. But he really is a lot of fun to watch with how he can attack the game. His passing skills are excellent, with quick touch passes that can catch opposing defenders in tough spots. He also has the confidence to look into high-danger areas with consistency, attempting to hit opponents in the slot area. As mentioned previously, he also has the stickhandling skills, allowing him to evade pressure and change his angle to open other passing lanes.
Not only can he impact the game as a passer, but he can also make teams pay as a shooter. Martone has a hard shot with a quick release. Coming down the ice on the rush, Martone is typically found as the third forward in, and he positions himself for drop passes consistently in those areas. When he gets those drop passes, he is so good at turning and firing pucks at the net for scoring chances. Additionally, when his team is set up on the offensive end, he does a good job moving his feet and getting open.
That’s especially true on the power play, where he seamlessly moves between the half-wall/perimeter on the left side to the bumper position in the mid-slot area. He bases his movements off his teammates, which is really impressive to do consistently and successfully. That said, he is a threat both with and without the puck, when his team is on the rush or already set up, and at both even strength and especially on the power play.
High-danger passing ability shines
As mentioned previously, my viewings spanned four games, with three of them being from this season. Looking at the three games from this season, it’s clear what kind of passer Martone is. He is consistently found looking into the high-danger areas at even strength. As a matter of fact, of his 19 offensive zone passing attempts, 8 of them were considered “dangerous.” Those dangerous passes were either aimed at the slot or were cross-ice passes. However, he completed just two of those (a 25% high-danger pass completion rate). In total, he completed 10 of those 19 passes (a 52.63% completion rate), with four of his passes being intercepted. With those passes, Martone accumulated two shot assists (the primary pass made before a shot on goal), both of which generated scoring chances.
As for the power play, he attempted 21 offensive zone passes, completing 18 of them (85.71%). Of those passes, six were considered dangerous (including five passes aimed into the slot). He completed exactly half of those passes. In total, he generated three shot assists on the man advantage, with two of them generating scoring chances. He mostly kept things simple on the power play, with 10 of his 21 passes being sent up to the defender at the point.
Strong high-volume shooting
As for his shooting data, Martone fired 13 shots toward the net at even strength in those same games, with 9 of them being on net (69.23% on-goal shooting percentage). Of those shots, he generated nine dangerous shots by “type” (a deflection, one-timer, or off the rush). Six of them specifically came off the rush. Additionally, four of his shots were dangerous by location (shots from the home-plate area). Just one of his attempts was blocked, which is a testament to his quick release, positioning, and ability to change his angle with his stickhandling to open up more space for himself.
On the man advantage, he fired off just four shots toward the net, with three of them being on target (75% rate). Just one of his shots was dangerous by type, coming off the rush. He largely moved the puck as a passer in the offensive zone, with smart movement away from the puck to try and get into good spots.
Martone’s offensive game summarized
Overall, Martone is a multi-faceted offensive threat. He can beat defenders one-on-one with his stickhandling skills and confidence, along with his size advantage. He can score from distance with his power and quick release. Martone is also a threat to score away from the puck by setting up in dangerous places to receive passes. Finally, he is a threat as a playmaker, constantly looking toward the dangerous areas of the ice to find teammates.
However, Martone does force a lot of passes into those areas. That explains the low completion percentage on his pass attempts. Not only that, but there were times throughout my viewings where Martone made very questionable decisions with the puck. Those directly led to turnovers (he had seven offensive zone turnovers at even strength, four on the power play) or missed scoring chances. His skating and, occasionally, effort away from the puck led to him being a touch too late to scoring areas. Those situations wiped out potential goals for himself. There were also times where he did not take advantage of certain passing lanes when he should have. That often led to zone entries being turned away, which will be explained in more detail later.
My concerns with Martone largely stem from the smaller details of the game. He is very much a “macro” level attacker. He focuses on the main goal of scoring without consistently focusing on the smaller details that allow teams to get those chances. Additionally, there are some concerns regarding how much his teammates help him, or vice versa. He plays on a loaded lineup with Luke Misa, Carson Rehkopf, and six other NHL draft picks.
Martone in transition
When it comes to transitioning the puck, Martone is a bit of a hit or miss. He did improve over the course of my viewings, but he relied a lot on his linemates to lead the way on entries and exits. For the most part, he generated more successful entries by sending passes up ice as opposed to skating it in himself. There were also a lot of situations where the pass didn’t lead to the entry itself; it was generally a pass taken by a linemate, who then did the work to get the entry.
As for exits, Martone cheated up ice a lot. Thus, he was not very involved in the process of breaking the puck out. However, when he did play a role there, he had a knack for excellent touch passes to teammates with momentum skating up ice. He did an excellent job timing those passes. When the puck was sent his way, he drew an opponent toward him, then quickly one-touched a pass to a teammate cutting up ice with more space. But again, how much of his success can be attributed to his linemates?
Martone entering the offensive zone
His up-and-down impacts when entering the offensive zone are clear when looking at the numbers. In total, he was directly involved in 30 of his team’s 75 entry attempts at even strength (40% involvement percentage). Of his 30 entry attempts, the team gained the offensive zone with possession on 15 of them (50% controlled entry rate). Meanwhile, he failed altogether on 9 of them (30% failed entry rate). He carried the puck in himself on 6 of those 15 attempts. The other 9 were passes directed to his teammate, who gained the zone. With Martone on the ice, the team combined for 28 controlled entries on the 75 total attempts (37.33% rate) while failing on 16 of them (21.33% rate).
When it comes to the man advantage, Martone was directly involved in 8 of his team’s 13 entry attempts (61.54% involvement). Of his 8 attempts, his team gained the offensive zone with control on 5 of them (62.5% rate). They failed on just one of those attempts. This time, a majority of his entry attempts were caused by Martone skating the puck in himself (three) rather than deferring to a teammate (two).
It is fair to mention that he generated more entries via skating the puck in himself over the course of the three tracked games. He had one in the first game, two in the second, and three in the third, at even strength. However, his efficiency dropped along with that. He went from a 70% controlled entry rate in the first game, down to 50% and then 35.71%.
Exiting the defensive zone
When exiting his own end, Martone was directly involved in 22 of his team’s 66 exit attempts (33.33% involvement rate) at even strength. Of his 22 exits, 17 of them successfully exited the zone with possession (77.27% controlled exit rate). But, like with his entry tendencies, he generated a majority of his controlled exits (10 of the 17) by deferring to teammates who skated the puck out of the zone.
Meanwhile, unlike his entry stats, he skated the puck out himself less over the course of the games tracked (four in game one, three in game two, and zero in game three). He was also less involved over the course of the games as well. He directly impacted nine exit attempts in the first game, eight in the second game, and five in the third. Martone does get caught cheating up the ice quite a bit throughout games. With his offensive explosion this season, there’s no surprise why.
Defensive zone impact
As mentioned earlier, Martone does cheat up ice a lot. However, that does not mean he is necessarily bad at playing in his own end. In total, he had 25 defensive zone puck touches in those three games at even strength, showing generally strong involvement. For comparison’s sake, Roger McQueen (also tracked over three random games) had 18 defensive puck touches. Martone turned the puck over four times in his own end, a turnover rate of 16%. The most impressive part of Martone’s defensive game, however, is his stick work, as he forced five takeaways. That means that, on five different occasions, he caused an opposing player to lose possession of the puck in his own end. Those often lead to a breakout.
Martone is very smart with his stick and uses his longer reach and bigger frame to close space quickly on opponents within his area. However, when the puck is on the opposite side of the ice, he can be guilty of floating a bit. Going back to him cheating up ice for offense, there were several moments where he even turned his back on the play to skate up ice. Had he kept facing the play, he could have gotten an exit. Instead, there were times where a breakout pass was a little too soft, and an opposing player skated into the passing lane with no pressure to hold the blue line. These aren’t major issues, especially considering just how much offense he provides, but it is a small detail that coaches at the next level will want hammered down.
Projection: Where will he go and what role will he play?
Martone is, at this point, a top-five prospect in the 2025 draft. The biggest question is just how much he is bringing to the ice himself versus how much his linemates help to elevate him. It can be really difficult to pick that apart, but there’s no question about the skill and size combination that Martone brings to the table. That being said, if his development goes well and he can transition his skill set to the NHL smoothly, he has elite first-line upside. With the concerns I have regarding the smaller details and occasional lapses in decisions, there could be some hiccups early on. That said, it is more likely he winds up as a future top-six winger, leaning more toward the second line, with power play upside.
What others are saying
“Martone’s game exhibits a unique combination of attributes that make him a player of endless potential. Martone effectively utilizes his size and strong skating ability, capitalizing on his towering frame to identify openings in the ice and create space. This ability to find gaps in the defense and generate opportunities showcases his understanding of the game. One of Martone’s standout skills is his size and skating technique, which enables him to survey the ice and locate open teammates for precise passes. His saucer pass is particularly effective, and he displays the capability to execute it while maintaining a high-speed pace with his head up.” — FCHockey crossover scout Blake McGuire
“Martone is a player with a rare combination of strength and finesse. He is physically imposing, yet he possesses a soft touch with the puck that is uncommon for a player of his size. He has excellent puckhandling ability and can weave through traffic with ease. Martone sees the ice incredibly well and delivers accurate passes through congestion to find teammates. Despite his high-end puck skills, he can also excel in a checking role… Martone has the potential to become a truly special player. His blend of size and skill allows him to impact the game in multiple ways, and with continued development and improved hockey IQ, there’s little doubt he can reach his full potential.” — FCHockey crossover scout Jacob Roth
Martone’s tracked games – 9/28/2024 @ Erie | 11/16/2024 @ Brantford | 1/4/2025 vs. Flint
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