If the Philadelphia Flyers are to enjoy a successful rebuild, they will need all of their young players, especially the wingers, to reach their full potential. Fortunately, all signs are already pointing to Porter Martone doing just that.
Despite jumping onto the moving train and joining the Flyers in the thick of their playoff push and subsequent playoff run last year, Martone, 19, looked like he belonged at the NHL level from the first shift.
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In only nine regular season games with the Flyers, Martone put up four goals, six assists, and 10 points, then followed that up with two goals, three assists, and five points in 10 postseason games.
Despite his 19 total games of NHL experience, though, Martone was on the ice for the Flyers at development camp in July, and now he’s on the ice for rookie camp ahead of the main training camp.
That’s the kind of attitude and approach, Flyers coaches feel, will propel the teenager to stardom in the near future.
“He asks a lot of questions. He’s always looking to better himself, wherever it is on the ice,” Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach John Snowden said of Martone on Friday.
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“In fairness, he played at the end of the season last year, got a very, very small taste of the NHL level. Like, he should ask those questions, and he should find every single resource and avenue to make himself a better player. He’s a very good player, obviously showed what he can be in the NHL, but he wants to be a superstar player, and those are the types of things you’re going to have to ask.
“You’re going to have to find a way to get better every single day. One percent better, two percent every day, and you’re going in the right direction.”
When Martone spoke during a media availability at development camp, he said he wanted to get better at “everything” during his offseason training.
And that was after having joined Canada for the World Championships, which followed the Flyers’ playoff run.
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That’s quite the long season, and for a recent sixth-overall pick who is already looking like an above-average NHL player, that’s an impressively all-encompassing outlook on the work ahead.
Martone, as well as fellow youngster and Flyers forward Denver Barkey, isn’t expected to play in the first Rookie Series game against the New York Rangers on Saturday night, but he’ll presumably get the opportunity to play on Sunday evening as a tune-up for the main Flyers training camp, which will officially open on Thursday.
Then, the real business begins.
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