This is the time of year when detailed scouting reports are flying around front offices. Scouts are picking apart players on a granular level, trying to find any tidbit that could be a tell, searching for any aspect of their game that indicates what the kid will or won’t be at the next level.
The door is open to over-thinking.
In the case of Porter Martone, you could most definitely fill a notebook with all the different things the Brampton Steelheads power winger can do. What it adds up to, however, is one simple takeaway: This guy is a hockey player.
“There are people who love hockey, and then there’s Porter Martone-type love of hockey and everything that goes with it,” says an executive from a rival OHL club. “The goal-scoring, the work, the chirping; he is a hockey player through and through [and] that energy is infectious.”
In the fall, Sportsnet did a feature on Martone as he prepared to play in the first-ever CHL-USA Prospects Challenge. In the piece, Steelheads coach James Richmond relayed an anecdote about how hard he pushed to keep Martone off the ice for a while at the end of his first full campaign with Brampton, which led into a gold medal-winning turn with Canada at the 2024 U-18 World Championship in Finland.
Martone — who, by the way, is Brampton’s captain, wore the ‘C’ for Canada in Finland and was also captain of the CHL entry at the prospects challenge — was tired and a bit banged up, so Richmond put it to Martone and the whole family: “I was begging them not to let him on the ice for [about] six weeks,” he said.
Richmond’s request took…sort of. “I’d say, ‘How does it feel [to be off]?’ And he’d say, ‘It feels really good, but I want to get skating!’”
Sound like a hockey player to you?
Here’s a closer look at the kid who’s sure to be the first winger off the board in 2025.
Team: Brampton Steelheads
Position: RW
Hometown: Peterborough, Ont.
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 208 pounds
What the opponent is saying
Martone is a classic power winger, a rare bird teams are often falling over themselves to get. He scored 37 goals and added 61 assists for 98 points in 57 contests this year and played in all situations for Brampton. “If he didn’t, he’d be screaming and yelling [at me],” Richmond (kind of) joked.
Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino calls Martone “one of the best pure shooters in the draft.”
Martone is a matchup nightmare for opponents because, with his hulking frame, soft hands and often-angry demeanour, you could be in for anything.
“You don’t really know how it’s going to go that night,” the OHL suit said. “He can play a skill game, he can play a physical game, he can play a nasty game, he can open it up. Some of the goals he scored 1-on-1 or on penalty shots are highlight reel goals. When we play against him it’s one of those things; damn, I hate playing against this guy, but I really enjoy watching him.”
Corey Perry Jr.?
Martone gets, and doesn’t shy away from, comparisons to the top power wingers in the game. Of course, that starts with Matthew Tkachuk and it’s not unreasonable to hope Martone could have a Tkachuk-like impact on NHL games down the road.
The other player Martone is often likened to is prime Corey Perry. That’s an especially easy comp to make because both guys are from Peterborough, shoot right and — at different times — have worn No. 94.
“[Perry has] a long, lanky body; Porter’s got a long, lanky body,” Richmond noted.
NHL-bound in October?
At one point early in the year, Martone seemed seriously in the mix to potentially go first overall. While that’s unlikely now, with Matthew Schaefer almost certain to be taken in the top spot by the Islanders, it’s worth wondering if Martone is the best bet from this draft class to play in the NHL next fall.
Often, the only guy from a given draft who immediately makes the jump is the top pick. While Schaefer is certainly a candidate to do that, there’s a couple factors that give you some pause. First off, he’s a defenceman and that’s an awfully tricky position to play in the NHL at 18 years old. Second, injuries limited Schaefer to just 17 games this past season, so it’s easy to see how a club might want him — again, especially given his position — to get more seasoning in the OHL or NCAA.
Anton Frondell has pro size, but is already committed to another year in Sweden. Michael Misa, like Martone, has already played three major junior years, but even if he’s ready for a new challenge there’s a decent chance it’ll be in the NCAA against bigger, stronger players.
Then there’s Martone.
As a 2006-born “late birthday” for this draft, Martone turns 19 in October and has the size and strength to at least hold his own against the pros. Also, as a winger, he’d have slightly less on his plate than guys trying jump to the NHL on the blueline or at centre. He could, quite conceivably, play 15 minutes a night on a third line and get his skates wet with low expectations before taking on a larger role in a year or two.
While Martone is no longer the strongest candidate to go first overall, he’s in play beginning with San Jose at No. 2 and definitely by Chicago at third overall. While the NCAA opportunity is a new wrinkle and definite possibly for many of these high-end major junior players, it’s not inconceivable that a club could look at Martone and think he’s ready to be in the NHL and best served by learning in a limited role there.
One thing is for sure; nothing is going to intimidate this guy.
Martone was actually drafted by the OHL’s Sarnia Sting and dealt to Brampton during his rookie season when the Sting loaded up on veterans for a title run. The OHL exec we spoke to recalled seeing Martone’s very first strides in the league, facing one of the circuit’s signature franchises.
“He was not scared as a 16-year-old,” the exec said. “I think it was his first pre-season game as a 16-year-old with Sarnia in London, he was trying to fight guys. It was one of those things where you thought, this guy is different.”
When NHL teams have the same thought about a player, he usually doesn’t wait too long to hear his name called at the draft.
