The Philadelphia Flyers’ top selection of the 2025 NHL Draft is starting a new journey this fall. Sixth-overall pick Porter Martone is going to be one of the top prospects going from the Canadian Hockey League to the NCAA as part of the new agreement between the two leagues.

The 18-year-old winger announced earlier that he has chosen to commit to Michigan State University, leaving the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads, a team which he captained last year, and foregoing any possibility of making the Flyers out of training camp — and even getting rid of the opportunity to go to an NHL training camp this fall.

While taking part in the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase this week, Martone was able to further discuss his decision to go play college hockey.

“It has been crazy after I got picked,” Martone said. “I always wanted to play in the NHL next year. After development camp we sat down and I just kind of weighed the pros and cons of everything.”

Martone, his representatives, and the Flyers, seemed to have all had multiple discussions about what’s next for the young winger. The player publicly expressed his desire to go to the NHL this season, before — like, immediately after he was selected — so it was clear where his head was at. But, in the end the Flyers most likely saw that he needed to still work on some things and having him go to college avoids an awkward situation.

If Martone signed his entry-level contract and attended training camp, but didn’t make the team, then he would be heading back to Brampton to play on a weakened team in a weakened league (due to some of the very best players leaving for college hockey) and that is not a good developmental environment. Especially for a player that is already physically mature enough to more than handle college hockey, it seemed like an easy decision to increase the difficulty, play against stronger and older opponents, to further develop and aim to sign his first NHL contract after his college season ends.

But, in the end, it was still the player’s decision even if the Flyers most likely wanted to take a more patient approach with Martone.

“They were going to support me either way. If I did get the chance to go to  training camp and try to make the team, they were going to support that,” Martone said.

“At the same time, I sat down and thought with my camp, and I did include the Flyers as well, was what’s going to make me the best player five to 10 years down the road when the Flyers are trying to win the Stanley Cup?”

For an 18-year-old winger that has always dreamed of the NHL, and is just one, small step away from it, that is an incredibly mature thought process. Sure, Martone is physically ready and at-worst would score 30-35 points in the NHL next season — being a very good offensive threat in the middle six and somewhere on the power play. But, as we have seen happen so many times, a top prospect can plateau if they’re trying to just keep their head above water and next thing you know, they have the exact same role and exact same production at 23 years old.

It is a hypothetical scenario, but one that happens almost every single year.

Both Martone and the Flyers will have to continue to be patient to see him in the Orange and Black, but it is going to most likely be so much more impactful with a year of college hockey under his belt. Plus, he’s heading to an outstanding program in East Lansing, with a roster that should compete for the national championship next spring.

Martone is not the only top CHL prospect going to the Spartans. Columbus Blue Jackets prospect and 2024 fourth-overall selection Cayden Lindstrom was a dominant force for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers before succumbing to a back injury that kept him out for the entirety of last season before his return during the WHL Finals. He will be more than motivated to make an impact during his freshman year and could certainly be Martone’s center for the majority of the season; potentially forming one of the most lethal duos in college hockey.

Other 2025 prospects like Ducks’ Eric Nilson and Preds’ Ryker Lee are also heading to Michigan State. And that’s not even mentioning that fellow Flyers prospect Shane Vansaghi was already on the team last year and gives us even more of a reason to stay tuned in to what the Spartans get up to next season.

College hockey is going to be an absolute blast next year and we’re personally glad that there’s even more of a reason to watch now that one prospect from Peterborough, Ont. is taking part.