Porter Martone has made his decision. The Philadelphia Flyers top prospect is foregoing his opportunity to potentially make the NHL roster out of training camp this fall, and he’s not heading back to the OHL, either. Instead, Martone is reportedly taking his talents to college hockey and will be committing to Michigan State.
The Spartans are one of the more consistent programs recently, always churning out some solid players from up there in East Lansing, Michigan. This year is no exception. Even before Martone’s inclusion, Michigan State was slated to be one of the top contenders for the Big Ten title and even to win a national championship.
Their roster is loaded with NHL prospects and that is even after Ike Howard left to go sign with the Edmonton Oilers after having his signing rights traded by the Tampa Bay Lightning after the player and the team that originally drafted him couldn’t come to terms. While the final roster is still not decided — because it is college hockey — Michigan State is going to have top prospects in just about every position and possibly on every line and pairing.
Speaking of lines, though, while Martone could certainly drive his own, it would be even better to get a solid supporting cast around him and potentially form one of the most dangerous trios in college hockey next season. Looking at the players that should be on the Spartans roster, who could we see next to Martone this upcoming college season?
Cayden Lindstrom, C
Certainly the highest-profile name will be Cayden Lindstrom. The fourth-overall pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets missed most of last season — he did return during the WHL Finals for the Medicine Hat Tigers — so he is starting his bounce-back campaign taking a step up the developmental ladder, with Michigan State.
The physically dominant centerman could power his way through college defenses, along with Martone, to cause chaos in the offensive zone, should he be fully recovered from his back injury that kept him on the sidelines. Thinking about this duo of an elite playmaker in Martone and someone who has consistently been able to score wherever he has played, could lead to some gaudy numbers for both of them. While it’s not all about racking up the points, Martone would be getting a lot of passing practice.
These are two Canadian junior players making the leap to college hockey for the first time, so while they are both incredibly talented, it might be easier to ease them in if they don’t play together at first.
Charlie Stramel, C
One interesting option is possibly the only centerman that is returning from last year’s Michigan State team and that’s Minnesota Wild big man Charlie Stramel. The former first-round pick has had an interesting journey. After being reached on by the Wild in the 2023 NHL Draft, Stramel had a miserable sophomore season at the University of Wisconsin, scoring just eight points in 34 games; but thankfully he overcame the bust label.
A transfer to Michigan State last summer and playing in a style that suited his game more than what he was doing with the Badgers, earned him a nine-goal, 27-point campaign in 37 games to get him right back on track. He is a fellow 6-foot-3 forward but uses his power and all of his 223 pounds to bully his way to the net.
Stramel isn’t the fleetest of foot whatsoever, so it might take a little bit of effort for Martone to time out his passes and reading his routes, but it might be a great developmental pairing for the Flyers prospect. If he could bring up a mid-level prospect like Stramel to his level and make it a very dangerous line in the top six for the Spartans, then that could progress his game even further.
Shane Vansaghi, RW
Of course, we want to see the Flyers prospects play together. If Martone switches to the left wing from his natural right wing, this opens the possibility of having a two-thirds Flyers line in East Lansing, with Shane Vansaghi manning the right side.
You can almost perfectly picture how this line would work, in your head. Vansaghi would cause havoc on the forecheck and along the boards once they are more established in the zone, opening up acres of ice for Martone to be the main offensive driver on the line and whichever center gets to play with them, cleans up in front of the net.
This pairing could work in college hockey but it also might help Vansaghi’s development even more. While this isn’t all about the Flyers second rounder, if the season after he was in the Spartan’s bottom six, he was able to play with someone like Martone, it should more than boost his production. Plus, it could be a pairing that the Flyers front office would fall in love with and see as something that could exist in the NHL in a few years — that is of course if Martone and Matvei Michkov don’t just immediately become the most dangerous young duo in the game.
Eric Nilson, C
And finally, one more player that we could see Martone on a line with at Michigan State is Anaheim Ducks 2025 second-round pick Eric Nilson. This is an interesting one — Nilson is coming over to North America after playing in the J20 Nationell junior league over in Sweden, and appearing in some pro games in the HockeyAllsvenskan for Djurgardens last season.
Unlike Lindstrom and Stramel, one of Nilson’s strengths is in his speed and general motor to get around the ice. He isn’t a hulking centerman — standing at 6-foot and just 165 pounds — but he works a whole lot on every shift to make his linemates better and this past season, was an outstanding connector of plays with Djursgardens. And that might just be what makes Martone develop his game a little bit faster for the NHL.
For Martone to not get used to having a gigantic center to potentially rely on for clearing the ice — because the Flyers certainly don’t have any of those besides the potential of Jack Nesbitt, and that’s even questionable — could be what is best for him to hit the ground running in Philadelphia either late next season or for the 2026-27 campaign.
Getting to play with his own Swedish Jett Luchanko (but less cool and not one of the best skating prospects in the world) could set up Martone to make a real impact with the Flyers and to be leaned on heavier, with defenses targeting him instead of just being part of some college all-star line.
There are a whole lot of options for Martone this season and no matter what, we should see him really blossom into something special. We’ll be tuning into every Michigan State game no matter what, over here.