Flyers support top prospect Porter Martone's decision to attend Michigan State

New York Times

2 days ago

Riley Armstrong already has the dates lodged in his brain. On Oct. 17 and 18, the Michigan State Spartans will face off against the Boston University Terriers at Agganis Arena in Boston, in a pair of games that will feature a whole bunch a Philadelphia Flyers prospects.
That includes their top prospect Porter Martone, selected sixth overall by the Flyers in last month's draft, and who declared on Monday that he'll be attending Michigan State in the fall. He'll join fellow 2025 Flyers draft pick Shane Vansaghi on the Spartans, who that weekend will visit 2025 second-round picks Carter Amico and Jack Murtagh and 2021 seventh-round pick Owen McLaughlin on the Terriers.
'That's like half of our pool right there,' Armstrong, the Flyers' director of player development, joked on Tuesday.
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Martone joining Michigan State made headlines earlier this week not only because of his pedigree, but he could just as easily have returned to his junior club, OHL Brampton, where he posted 37 goals and 98 points in 57 games last season.
Going the college route will also prevent him from taking part in Flyers training camp in September, where he might have had an outside shot at making the team. That's now off the table.
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But the Flyers are seemingly on board with Martone's decision. They were kept in the loop throughout the decision-making process, although general manager Daniel Briere indicated that they were also careful not to interfere too much, either.
'It was Porter and his family and his agent making the decision,' Briere told The Athletic on Tuesday. 'The cool part is we were involved in the process. They included us. We had long discussions. It's not like we told him one way or the other. We shared kind of the positives and the negatives of each side. They made the decision. So we told him we'd be very supportive of whatever the decision would be. It's not like there's a wrong or right answer here.'
Said Armstrong: 'It was up to him and his family and his agent on the decision that he made, and we supported whatever he wanted to do.'
Armstrong also pointed out what is thought by many to be the biggest benefit of playing in college: going against players who are older and more physically developed than those still in the Canadian junior ranks, while allowing plenty of time for off-ice work in the middle of the week as games are almost exclusively on weekends.
'I think from a strength standpoint, you get more time in the gym,' Armstrong said. 'You don't play as many games, and when you do play those games, he's not playing against 16 and 17-year-olds; he's going to play against 20-, 21-, 22-(year-olds) that are more mature.
'I felt it was a very mature decision for Porter to look at his career in the big picture, and not with this small lens (and say) this is going to help me five years from now. So I'm really excited about that, about his mindset that he had.'
From a Flyers standpoint, though, Briere admitted that he's slightly disappointed that Martone, 18, won't be immediately experiencing his first NHL training camp. Depending on whether Tyson Foerster is healthy enough to start the season after developing an infection in his arm — the Flyers are still hopeful Foerster will be OK, but remain uncertain whether that will be the case — the door might have been open for Martone to stake his claim as a top-nine winger on opening night.
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At the same time, Briere echoed Armstrong in suggesting that Martone attending Michigan State could potentially further his development.
'Going that direction and taking a year, a step up going from playing against 16-to-19 year olds, and now facing 19-to-24 year olds, it's going to be a little tougher for him,' Briere said. 'Guys that are a little bit more developed … it's kind of a stepping stone. We feel it could be the right decision, as well.'
And, no, Briere isn't at all concerned about a repeat of the situation the Flyers found themselves in with Cutter Gauthier, when the Boston College product who was the fifth-overall pick of the Flyers in 2022 spurned the organization, forcing a trade.
'There's no worries about that,' Briere said. 'The biggest difference is the communication between our camp and (Martone's) camp, which wasn't there in the previous experience (with Gauthier).'
That communication with Martone will remain consistent, according to Briere. That's something that Armstrong spearheads, with his player development staff that also includes Patrick Sharp, John LeClair, Sam Morin and Chris Stewart. Martone can expect a text message every Monday, according to Armstrong, who makes a point to do that with all of the organization's prospects on the first day of every week throughout the season.
'Riley has a big say in that. He's going to spend a lot of time — him and his staff and the rest of his group, they're all going to take turns,' Briere said. 'There's constant communication with all parties involved.'
Briere continued: 'The important part for us, and we told (Martone), is we care about what Porter Martone is going to be in three, five, seven years from now. That's the most important part.'