Martone thrives under pressure heading to 2025 NHL Draft

The 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft will be held June 27-28 at L.A. Live's Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The first round will be held June 27 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), with rounds 2-7 on June 28 (Noon ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, SN1). NHL.com is counting down to the draft with in-depth profiles on top prospects, podcasts and other features. Today, a look at right wing Porter Martone of Brampton in the Ontario Hockey League. Full draft coverage can be found here.

Porter Martone set three goals for himself as a high-end prospect entering his draft-eligible season.

Not surprisingly, the right wing with Brampton of the Ontario Hockey League recorded a hat trick.

"I wanted to establish myself as a dominant force in the league, be a hard player to play against and be one of the top players [in scoring]," Martone told NHL.com in January.

It wasn't easy for Martone, particularly after entering 2024-25 with a big bullseye on his back as a projected top-10 pick in the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft.

"Obviously, there's always going to be pressure on people in their draft eligible year; it's a big year," Martone said. "It might be pressure for other people, but I kind of take it as a privilege. Not everyone my age gets to say, in their NHL draft year, they're captain of their junior hockey team and get the opportunities that I get, so it was a huge honor."

Martone (6-foot-3, 208 pounds) would be the first to trade away all the personal accolades for team success, however. One could sense that in the tone of his voice after Brampton was eliminated by Oshawa in its first-round playoff series.

That's just how Martone's wired, but it doesn't take away from the fact he hates losing more than he loves winning.

"His compete level is off the charts," Brampton coach and general manager James Richmond said. "He hates losing at anything, and to find that type of an athlete nowadays is very rare. When you find it, start saying, 'OK, what's the skill set like?' because there's willingness and ableness ... and I can tell you Porter's got both."

Martone is No. 6 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters after finishing tied for seventh in the OHL with 98 points (37 goals, 61 assists), including 29 power-play points (seven goals, 22 assists), in 57 games. He had nine points (four goals, five assists) and three power-play goals in the six-game playoff series against Oshawa.

He was asked if playing right wing as compared to center is a disadvantage in a draft dominated by exceptional players in the middle.

“I’m not really sure,” he said. “I think a team is going to pick you because they believe in you, and I think everyone brings different things to the table. I’m not focused on other people, just on myself and the team I play for. I think if I do that, a team will like me.”

Martone established team records for assists and points in a regular season with Brampton and has 204 points (89 goals, 115 assists) in 178 OHL games in his three seasons.

"Porter is a well-known commodity ... he brings that package that teams are looking for," Central Scouting director Dan Marr said. "He does have a little bit more of the size asset element to his game than some of the other players at the top of this draft and I think that's appealing to some teams. But I think he's eliminated any concerns about the skating, and he's undervalued on his skill sets."

Richmond was asked if Martone might be undervalued in this draft, as he did drop to No. 6 from No. 4 on Central Scouting's midterm rankings in January.

"The NHL is a hard league to play in ... you have to be special," Richmond said. "I could argue that 98 percent of the guys in the NHL are wonderful people, but they've got a little bit of a screw loose too, to play that many games and be that physical at that pace. Porter is right there with those guys. I've had some pretty good ones, Nicolas Hague, Thomas Harley, Owen Tippett, Ryan McLeod, Nathan Bastian ... a whole bunch to come through with me. Martone's teammates love being around him, he knows all the stick patterns of his teammates, and he's just a hockey junkie."

Richmond is reminded of Edmonton Oilers forward Corey Perry whenever he watches his star forward.

"He's Corey Perry, he really is," Richmond said of Martone. "He's good with the puck, sets up plays. If you're double-teaming him, he makes passes that other guys can't make, and if you leave him alone, he's deadly around the net. He's an agitator, gets under people's skin. Players want to get after him all the time but he's tough and doesn't mind fighting. He'll defend teammates and he'll jump at those who come after him.

"He's the most complete guy, I think, that I've had."

Brampton goalie Jack Ivankovic, who is No. 4 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American goalies, gets to see that ability on display every practice.

"In practice, I'm trying my hardest not to allow him to score and to make him better and he's trying to score and make me better," Ivankovic said. "Knowing what he's looking for when he's coming down to shoot is a big thing in my training."

Martone grew up in Peterborough, Ontario, in a hockey-playing family. Mike Martone, his father, played four seasons (1994-98) with Peterborough (OHL), serving as captain in 1997-98. The family patriarch had Porter and his younger sister, Audrey, in skates by the time each was 2 years old.

Martone was chosen No. 5 by Sarnia in the 2022 OHL draft and was traded to Mississauga (now Brampton) on Jan. 7, 2023. He's represented Canada many times, winning a gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, where he had 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in seven games.

"I think sometimes with guys like Martone and their late birthday, you can almost over-scout these guys," Central Scouting's Nick Smith said. "I mean, in year three, maybe you find things, or you make things up, but at the end of the day I think he's one of those kids that was born to play the game and play any style, any type.

"He's the guy that makes everybody around him better. He's a good leader and one of the things that I think is underrated about Porter is the hockey sense. I've watched him make so many really nice plays that I didn't see up in the stands. One team is going to be real lucky to have him."

Martone had 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 14 games at the 2023 and 2024 U18 Worlds to set the career scoring record by a Canada player, surpassing Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (21 points).

He won gold at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup after he had five points (two goals, three assists) in five games, and he also represented his country at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. He was one of three 2025 NHL Draft-eligible players on Canada at World Juniors, along with Ivankovic and Erie defenseman Matthew Schaefer.

Martone also was the only 2025 draft-eligible player on Canada's roster for the 2025 IIHF World Championship. He averaged 9:23 of ice time in two games after initially being brought to the tournament as an extra player.

"He's a very talented player, a competitor, and the one who wears his compete on his sleeve," Marr said. "I think that's what endears him to everybody. So depending on where an NHL team's draft philosophy is, he can go anywhere from No. 3 to No. 8 in this draft.

"But I can tell you he'd be an asset to any NHL club that gets him."

Kashawn Aitcheson (6-1, 196), a defenseman with Barrie (OHL) and projected top-15 pick in the 2025 draft, has had many net-front confrontations with Martone but respects his style of play.

“Obviously, we battle against each other super hard but he’s a great person off the ice and I think he thinks the same [of me]. We just have the utmost respect for one another,” Aitcheson said. “We’re competitors, we’re both high-end players and we’re just both excited for each other to see what’s to come.”

How would Martone respond if an NHL general manager asked why they should choose him in the 2025 draft?

"I want to win a Stanley Cup, and I want to do whatever I can to bring a Stanley Cup back to that team," he said. "I think that's a goal of mine, since I was a little kid. That's a big thing with NHL teams ... they all want to win a Stanley Cup. That's the end prize and every year you want to be the last team standing. I can bring a lot of different things to the game that could help a team win a Stanley Cup."