Why Flyers prospect Porter Martone playing at Michigan State is a win for all parties

The Philadelphia Flyers will have a few exciting roster battles to watch in training camp, but Porter Martone won’t be a part of them.

The 2025 sixth overall pick announced his commitment to Michigan State earlier this week, and it may be a bit disappointing to Flyers fans who wanted to see how he’d look in camp, but it’s probably the best thing for the prospect.

In fact, it’s something that should benefit Martone, Michigan State, and the Flyers.

Let’s start with Michigan State. The Spartans are a storied college hockey destination, and they’ll be getting a blue-chip prospect in Martone. They missed out on Gavin McKenna, with the unanimous 2026 top pick committing to Penn State, but Martone is a solid consolation prize.

Michigan State was the No. 1 ranked team in the country last season by USCHO.com with a 26-6-4 record, and won its second straight Big Ten Championship. Despite losing Isaac Howard to the Oilers after a trade and the aforementioned decision by McKenna, Martone joins fellow top pick Cayden Lindstrom in committing to Michigan State after a year in the CHL.

There are also a handful of other solid prospects who could become Martone’s linemates at Michigan State, including Shane Vansaghi, whom the Flyers snagged late in the second round back in June.

But Flyers fans don’t really have a reason to care about Michigan State beyond this season, so let’s move on to how Martone’s decision benefits him.

Martone’s ultimate goal may have been to play in the NHL this season, and he likely could’ve after playing a few games at the Men’s World Championship for Team Canada in May. But that doesn’t mean that it would’ve been the best route for him.

Sure, it would’ve been exciting to see how Martone and Matvei Michkov could mesh on a line or power-play unit together. However, there’s also the potential downside of Martone making the jump too early rather than taking the opportunity for a middle step between juniors and the NHL.

Martone will get a chance to play both with and against fellow top prospects during his NCAA season. Instead of being one of the oldest and best players in his league, he’ll be a fresh-faced 18-year-old freshman going into a league that includes players three and four years older than him. Martone has a great hockey mind and the frame to keep up, but another year to help transition him to the NHL certainly isn’t going to hurt.

And it’s not as if committing to Michigan State completely rules out the possibility of him playing in the NHL this season. In fact, it would be rather surprising if Martone doesn’t join the Flyers after the college season is over.

Using Alex Bump as an example, his Western Michigan Broncos won the Frozen Four on April 12. Based on his comments about choosing to delay his entry-level contract, it sure seems like the Flyers gave him the option of making his NHL debut in one of their final games on April 15 or 17. Instead, Bump joined the Phantoms for two regular-season games on the 18th and 19th — recording a point in both games, mind you — and proceeded to play in seven playoff games as well.

Next year’s Frozen Four takes place in Washington, D.C., on April 9 and 11. Michigan State is one of the favorites to win it all this year, but even if they do play through April 11, the Flyers have two home games on the 13th and 14th that Martone could debut in.

Martone’s decision to play a year in college also benefits the Flyers themselves in a few different ways.

First of all, it gives them another year to figure out which pieces are going to be a part of the future on the wing.

The Flyers have a bit of a logjam at wing with Matvei Michkov, Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, Bobby Brink, and Tyson Foerster (when he’s healthy) occupying five of the six wingers in the top-nine group. Then there are guys like Alex Bump and Nikita Grebenkin who could play themselves onto the roster. Not to mention the possibility of a Trevor Zegras, Noah Cates, or Christian Dvorak seeing time at wing with the sudden center depth that the Flyers have.

Keeping Martone in the NHL would likely mean using him in a top-six role, or at least top-nine. It’s going to be a lot more beneficial for the Flyers in the long run to give those minutes to the guys mentioned above rather than an 18-year-old who is a pretty safe bet to be a top-six winger (if not top-line star) throughout his career.

If there was a clear need for a right-handed winger in the Flyers lineup? Sure, maybe you give Martone a look in training camp and see if he can make the roster. If the Flyers were a team with realistic expectations to make the playoffs this year? You absolutely have him on the roster.