The Flyers stayed put in the order and made Brampton power forward Porter Martone their choice at No. 6 overall in the NHL Draft on Friday night.
The 18-year-old right winger isn’t the fastest skater out there, but he is a strong one who can bring a good bit of offensive prowess with his shot and his passing after he barrels past the blue line along the wall.
The scouting report on Martone from a few weeks back:
A powerful winger with a laser of a shot and some slick passing, too, Martone was a big-time point producer in the OHL this past season with 37 goals and 98 points.
He’s not the fastest skater, but he can use his 6’3″, 208-pound frame to protect the puck and power his way in toward the net – and that’s he willing to has kept him considerably high up on many draft boards.
For the Flyers, in the event that he’s there for them when they’re on the clock, the 18-year-old would fall into the realm of a best player available type of pick, considering right wing is a pretty log-jammed position for them right now.
That said, if the belief is there that Martone will be a star and you can get him, then you pick him up and figure out the opening later.
With 11 picks’ worth of draft capital to work with, the Flyers should have teams calling with ways to create that theoretical pathway and vice versa.
It became a matter of best player available. The Flyers will figure out the rest later, and should have a couple years of development time in order to do so.
Martone, a Peterborough, Ontario native, was announced as the Flyers’ pick by former Sixers great and Philly fan favorite Charles Barkley via video call.
Upon getting his hat and jersey on the draft stage, Martone was put in front of a mic and a monitor with the Flyers’ front office on the other end.
General manager Danny Brière welcomed Martone to Philadelphia, and said he heard the newest Flyer was already a bit of a fan.
Martone replied that he has a Claude Giroux poster and a few Flyers magnets on the wall in his basement.
The hope now is that, soon enough, Martone will be a star in Philadelphia, and on a poster for another draft pick someday.
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