It’s had some time to marinate, but that doesn’t mean anyone’s happy about it. The Philadelphia Flyers‘ reward for a gloomy 2024–25 season is picking sixth overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, two spots worse than their fourth-last finish in the league’s standings had them originally.
It may not seem like much of a fall, but a once-narrow list of options for the Flyers to take with their first pick may have expanded drastically. They may go “off the board” (as in, shift from most people’s mock drafts), which they’ve had a history of doing. Thus, the rising Brady Martin is a candidate to be taken at No. 6.
The Soo Greyhounds centerman is one of the most physically imposing players in the class. Why could the Flyers be enamored with his game? Why should you, as well? Let’s take a look.
Martin Brings Tenacity & All-Three-Zones Upside
The first thing you’ll hear—and probably notice—about Martin is the physicality he brings to every game. There’s no better highlight to prove this than the one below, where he finishes a check along the boards, skates to the other side of the ice to do it again, and then scores a goal.
Activity on the ice soars when Martin is on it. He pretty much does it all for the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Greyhounds, including hitting, shooting, passing, blocking shots, transitional play, and battling along the boards. He embraces a “no shifts off” mentality to an unmatched degree. He does a lot of things well.
Martin is physical even for power-forward standards, but that’s not the only selling point. He plays in all three zones, which is of particular interest for the Flyers. He makes a lot of good plays in the neutral zone, creating rushes for his teammates. He’s also skilled enough to take on and beat defenders off the rush by himself. Once he enters the offensive zone, his passing ability stands out the most.
In online spaces, I’ve seen Flyers fans talk about how much they love Brady Tkachuk. While he and Martin don’t approach the game the same way, that’s the do-it-all impact you’re looking for in this pick. His tools would be welcomed.
Assessing Martin’s Production
Martin recorded 33 goals and 39 assists for 72 points across 57 games in 2024–25. That’s generally not worthy of a sixth-overall selection, but in his defense, the Greyhounds were one of the worst teams in the OHL. To help contextualize that a bit, I looked at the points per game of every forward on his team with at least 20 games played, and compared that to his rate. Martin’s 1.26 points per game were second on the roster, which came out to a z-score of 1.59.
Below are the five best OHL forwards in the class, courtesy of NHL Central Scouting’s latest release. Among them, where does he rank in points per game z-scores? See that in the table, with help from QuantHockey‘s data.
| Player | Z-Score |
| Porter Martone | 1.87 |
| Michael Misa | 1.75 |
| Brady Martin | 1.59 |
| Jake O’Brien | 1.38 |
| Jack Nesbitt | 0.35 |
This metric isn’t really important to consider when drafting players, to be clear. It’s just that Martin’s in a bit of a Jett Luchanko situation, where he scored a lot relative to his team but not necessarily first-round players of his age group. Martin has some promising offensive traits, anyhow, so all this point-scoring talk does is quantify those claims.
Sticking with a similar theme, Martin’s plus/minus stood out relative to his team. Yes, it can be a volatile metric and isn’t generally indicative of offensive or defensive ability, but it is worth mentioning that he led his roster by a landslide. His plus-25 rating gave him a z-score of 2.61, ranking that many standard deviations above the Greyhounds’ full-team mean.
Why the Flyers May Like Martin
The traits and numbers above don’t tell us anything groundbreaking about Martin. They give him credibility as a first-round pick, and perhaps even give justification for rising above the teens, but still not the sixth-overall pick, arguably. So, why might the Flyers like Martin?
Really, it all goes back to Matvei Michkov. The Flyers’ top priority should be maximizing the talent on their roster (even if it means not catering to their franchise star), but pivoting to taking the best player for the 20-year-old’s future wouldn’t be a bad choice under the right circumstances. If the front office believes a physical center who excels both on and off the puck, is a strong passer, and plays in all three zones, is the right fit for Michkov, so be it. That framing doesn’t sound so bad, does it?
The bar to be Michkov’s center is more trait-oriented than anything. For example, he played world-class hockey when centered by Sean Couturier. According to Natural Stat Trick, from Feb. 1 until the end of the season, Michkov played 84.53% of his 5-on-5 minutes with the veteran center. Despite usage restrictions under head coach John Tortorella, only David Pastrňák and Robert Thomas accumulated more 5-on-5 points than Michkov in that span.
Let’s remember, today’s Couturier isn’t even in his prime. There are limitations in the 32-year-old center’s game, but his traits were basically tailor-made to benefit someone like Michkov. This might be what the Flyers envision with Martin. Plus, the combination of meanness and genuine skill in his game is something they’ve lacked for a long time.
If you were to scout every top player for this upcoming class and rank your favorites, Martin probably wouldn’t be in your top six. However, that doesn’t mean taking him at that spot would be completely irrational. A Martin and Michkov duo could be the envy of the league—picking him is more exciting when you think of it that way. He has the upside to be a star in the NHL, and his best self could be unlocked in the Flyers’ system.
Do you consider taking Martin with the sixth pick if you’re the Flyers, even though he wasn’t ranked any higher than the teens by most outlets a short while ago? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section!
