Coming into the 2026-2027 season, Philadelphia Flyers right winger Porter Martone was the favorite to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year. A dozen games into the season, he’s not meeting those expectations.
Through 12 games this season, Martone has recorded just two goals and one assist.
Martone’s Instant Impact
The 6-foot-3 winger joined the Flyers late last season, after producing 50 points in 35 games as a freshman at Michigan State.
Martone’s impact on Philadelphia’s lineup was immediate. He delivered 10 points in nine games, lifting the Flyers into the playoffs for the first time since 2019-2020.
Upon arriving in the NHL, Martone was inserted onto a line with veterans who helped him acclimate quickly. His most common linemates last season were Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny.
One reason to be so optimistic about Martone coming into this season was that, not only did he put up points, but he generated shots on goal. Martone had 32 shots on goal in nine games last season, an average of 3.56 shots on goal per game. There were just seven players in the entire NHL to average more shots per game last season.
A Different Look in 2026-2027
The Flyers have tried to temper expectations and attached Martone to different linemates this season. The early results have been disappointing.
Konecny has been injured and played just five games, but he wasn’t playing with Martone even before getting injured.
Martone’s most common linemates have been Noah Cates and Matvei Michkov. Their underlying numbers show some reason for hope. With that trio on the ice, the Flyers control 53.9 percent of shot attempts and 62.8 percent of expected goals during 5-on-5 play. For a Flyers team that is getting caved in most nights, this is positive.
On the other hand, Martone individually is nowhere near the contributor that he was last season. He has managed just 13 shots on goal in 12 games. With 33 shot attempts, that means only 39.4 percent of his shot attempts have been on net. Last season, it was 32 of 51 shots, or 62.7 percent, on net.
According to NHL Edge stats, Martone had a dozen high-danger shots on goal in nine games last season. This season, he has six in 12 games. As a power forward, Martone must get to the most dangerous areas in front of the opponent’s net if he’s going to score. That’s not happening consistently enough.
Head Coach Rick Tocchet Doesn’t Trust Martone
While the shot rate is a problem, ice time is a major issue that hangs over Martone.
Last season, Martone played 17:02 per game, with a little more than two minutes per game on the power play. This season, his ice time is down to 13:32 per game, with a slight uptick in power play time per game.
Martone was benched by head coach Rick Tocchet after a few mistakes in the season opener, and has been struggling to get ice time since. In Wednesday’s win at Buffalo, he played a season-high 15:50.
There are 10 forwards that have played at least nine games for the Flyers this season. Martone ranks ninth among them with 11:06 of 5-on-5 ice time per game.
Can Martone Work His Way Out of This?
The sixth overall pick in the 2025 Draft and captain of Team Canada at the 2026 World Juniors, Martone has the pedigree of a top player. That’s why expectations are so high for him.
It’s encouraging that Martone’s line has been controlling play. It’s also frustrating that he’s not generating chances or producing at a level even close to what he did last season. On top of that, his coach has cut his ice time dramatically.
On a Flyers team that was winless (0-6-3) through nine games before their current three-game winning streak, perhaps some changes in deployment would be worth considering.
Ultimately, the ice time will be Tocchet’s decision. It’s up to Martone to earn a bigger role with this team. While Martone should probably be playing more, he could certainly be more productive in his attempts to earn that ice time.
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