NHL Draft Prospect Porter Martone Fights To Win – Literally

The first-ever Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game was held in Brantford this year, and it was no surprise that Brampton Steelheads right winger Porter Martone made an impact.

The fact he scored the overtime-winner for Team East was already impressive, but that goal also gave him a Gordie Howe hat trick after a second-period fight and an assist on the game-tying goal in the third.

That, in a nutshell, is why Martone is one of the top players available in the 2025 NHL draft – even though Brampton coach-GM James Richmond would be more than happy if Martone kept his gloves on.

“Fighting is part of the game, and there are times to do it,” Richmond said. “But how many top scorers in different leagues are also your top fighters? That’s what I’m trying to explain to him. Corey Perry was a top scorer, and he could still be an agitator. Matthew Tkachuk can still be an agitator and not fight every two or three games. If you talk to guys who fought for a living, they’ll tell you it’s painful on your hands. If you’ve got a top scorer, you want to protect his hands.”

While Martone hasn’t fought too many times this season, he’s also the type of player who steps up when his team needs a boost – no matter what that entails. “I’m a competitor, and I want to win, so I’m going to do anything I can to win,” he said. “If I have to drop the gloves, I’ll drop the gloves.”

Martone has been the Steelheads’ top scorer all season and one of the most dangerous offensive forces in the OHL. “He’s one of the best junior players of his age in the country,” Richmond said. “To have a player that dominant on your team is huge for us. His compete level is off the charts, and his skill level is off the charts.”

Martone has vision, playmaking ability and a great scoring touch to go with his big frame and physicality. It was enough to earn him a spot on Canada’s World Junior Championship team, albeit in a smaller role that bizarrely did not often put him on the same line with Brampton linemate Carson Rehkopf, the Seattle Kraken prospect.

It was a disappointing tournament for the Canadians in Ottawa, with a quarterfinal exit and an ensuing firestorm about the coaching and management surrounding the team. But Martone came away from his first WJC experience with a positive attitude.

“It was on home soil, and you dream of that as a little kid,” he said. “Skating out in front of 20,000 people was pretty surreal. But we did lose in the quarterfinal, and it definitely left a sour taste in everybody’s mouth. It was pretty heartbreaking, the way it ended. But the people coming back next year, we have extra motivation, and we can take those experiences and move them into next year.”

It will be interesting to see if Martone is even available next season. With his late-October birthday, he’s one of the older first-time eligible players in his draft class, and with Martone boasting a 6-foot-3, 208-pound frame, it’s not hard to picture him in the NHL next season.

On top of all his offensive exploits, Martone also kills penalties, so he’s not a one-dimensional player who would have to play on a scoring line right away. He has fierce competition at the top of the draft board, but he’s also competitive when it comes to rankings.

“You can never be too high,” Martone said. “I want to continue showing people the player I can be and a player that hopefully goes into an NHL system and helps build a culture to win a Stanley Cup one day.”

That culture piece also helps explain why he was named captain of the Steelheads, even though he was just 17 when the campaign began.

“He’s a leader,” Richmond said. “He’s worn the ‘C’ for Team Canada (at the world under-18s, where he won gold). He wore the ‘C’ growing up, and guys gravitate to him. If we’re doing a media event or community event, they’re all looking to see what he does first. He leads on the ice. He leads off the ice. It was a pretty easy decision for all of us.”

Right now, the captain’s challenge will be to push Brampton through a playoff run. The Steelheads have had some awful injury luck this season, plus some untimely suspensions and several players who missed time due to the world juniors. If they’re going to make noise, their captain will be a big reason why.

“I want to win every night, whether it’s an all-star game, regular-season game or playoff game,” Martone said. “I just want to go out and be the hardest player I can be.”

This article appeared in our 2025 Future Watch issue. Our cover story focuses on Ducks prospect Beckett Sennecke, who is tearing it up with the OHL's Oshawa Generals this season. We also include features on other exceptional NHL prospects, including: Zayne Parekh, Porter Martone, Gavin McKenna and more. In addition, we look at the top 10 prospects in the pipeline for each of the 32 NHL clubs.

You can get it in print for free when you subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/Free today. All subscriptions include complete access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.