Top Philadelphia Flyers prospect Porter Martone will make his NHL debut on Tuesday night against the division rival Washington Capitals, and with the excitement comes a few nuggets worth keeping track of.
For starters, it's already been established that head coach Rick Tocchet and the Flyers are looking to put Martone, 19, in a position for success and comfort in his first NHL game.
To kick things off, at least, the 2025 No. 6 pick will play right wing on a line with veterans Travis Konecny and Christian Dvorak.
"I think him and TK, veteran guys. Those guys are good at staying close together. That's something we were talking about, I think it's a good fit for him. We'll see how it goes," Tocchet told traveling media of Martone's line.
Notably, fellow rookie Alex Bump had been playing on that line, but Bump is instead coming out of the lineup... for now.
"We have a lot of young guys, so maybe there's a rotation. I don't know," Tocchet said.
"I'm not going to get into why. I just think [Carl Grundstrom] had a really good game last game. He's played some playoff games, veteran guy. That doesn't mean Bumper's not going to play next game. It's just that we're going to have to do this rotation, maybe, or who's hot. We'll go from there. We'll talk about it... it's more game-to-game."
Grundstrom, 28, will reprise his role as the left wing on a line with Noah Cates and Matvei Michkov, though it's worth noting that the Swede has scored just one goal since Dec. 31--a cold streak that has spanned 31 games.
Overall, the 6-foot grinder has eight goals, four assists, and 12 points in 43 games this season, and Tocchet is clearly relying on him to be responsible now that more youth has been added to the lineup with Martone.
As for Martone's opportunities, Tocchet spoke mostly in generalities, but appears to clearly have a plan for the top prospect's usage.
"I think it's important I get him out there quickly. Guy makes a mistake early, he's not going to sit on the bench. He's gotta get out there," Tocchet assessed.
"It's like anything. As a coach, you try to see how the game's going. But, definitely trying to make him feel comfortable out there. That's something I gotta do for him."
For reference, Alex Bump played 16:07 in his Flyers debut and scored a goal against Pittsburgh back on March 7, and Denver Barkey played 15:18 and recorded two assists against the New York Rangers on Dec. 20.
Both debuted in divisional games, like Martone will against the Capitals on Tuesday night.
The 19-year-old enters his first NHL game having scored points in each of his last six games for Michigan State.