{"id":46459,"date":"2025-07-07T17:01:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/46459\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T17:01:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:01:11","slug":"why-flyers-are-bullish-on-prospects-porter-martone-alex-bump-coming-to-make-the-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/46459\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Flyers are bullish on prospects Porter Martone, Alex Bump: \u2018Coming to make the team\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

VOORHEES, N.J. \u2014 It\u2019s been more than a quarter-century since the Philadelphia Flyers saw a player reach 50 goals in a single season. In 1997-98, John LeClair, a power forward in the prime of his career, managed 51 goals. The now-Wells Fargo Center (and soon-to-be Xfinity Mobile Arena) was two years old.<\/p>\n

LeClair, 56, is part of the Flyers\u2019 front office now. As a special advisor to hockey operations, he has the primary focus of being a resource for and keeping a watchful eye on the organization\u2019s prospects. So, naturally, he was on the ice frequently throughout the Flyers\u2019 five-day prospect development camp, from Wednesday through Sunday at their training center.<\/p>\n

One guy LeClair couldn\u2019t miss \u2014 perhaps because there already have been comparisons \u2014 was Porter Martone, a winger drafted sixth a little more than a week ago.<\/p>\n

LeClair could score goals \u2014 406 in his NHL career, in fact. Martone can, too. He\u2019s combined for 70 of them in 117 games in his past two years in the OHL.<\/p>\n

LeClair stands 6 feet 3 and weighed 226 pounds as a player. Martone is also 6-3, and, despite being just 18 years old, is already a solid 208 pounds.<\/p>\n

Whether Martone has the ability to get to 50 one day, well, it\u2019s much too early to make that leap. But LeClair is already encouraged by Martone\u2019s pro potential now that he\u2019s had a chance to observe him up close.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe shoots the puck better than I do,\u201d LeClair said. \u201cThe kid\u2019s got a really good shot. He sees the ice really well. His vision is great. He understands how the game operates, as far as time and space. And he\u2019s got something you can\u2019t teach \u2014 he knows how to score goals. Some guys can shoot it hard but don\u2019t know how to score. Porter\u2019s got a purpose when he shoots.\u201d<\/p>\n

LeClair and everyone else on the development staff already has a decent idea of what Martone can do on the ice. General manager Daniel Briere and assistant general manager Brent Flahr already detailed on draft night<\/a> what made Martone a target of theirs. But part of what makes development camp such a vital few days from a management standpoint is that they get to see how each prospect carries himself in the dressing room and among his teammates on the ice.<\/p>\n

Martone seemed to leave an early impression from that standpoint, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cOff the ice, he fits in great. He\u2019s a really outgoing guy,\u201d said Flyers director of player development, Riley Armstrong. \u201cHe has that little bit of swag to him. He knows that he\u2019s a good player. I think that\u2019s a good thing. I think you want a player that has that confidence within himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Flahr: \u201cTo see his maturity, the way he handles himself around the group, around you guys (the media). \u2026 He\u2019s got some swagger, in a good way. But he also is pretty aware of where he needs to get to physically in order to play \u2014 and not just play, be a top player.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what does he need to do physically? One specific area that the Flyers would like to see Martone work on is his lower body strength, and, in turn, his skating. Martone\u2019s first few strides are already \u201celite,\u201d according to Armstrong, but after that, his straightaway speed can improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a big kid,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cHe has to bend down and stay in that (skating) position, that takes a lot of strength in the legs. Once that comes, then we lengthen his stride a little bit. Once he gets a little bit lower, he\u2019s going to be even faster than what he is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

LeClair can, of course, relate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can get that separation,\u201d LeClair said. \u201cBut the top end speed, when he gets going in full ice\u2026 (Armstrong) is a real good skating instructor. He\u2019ll fix that in a hurry, and hopefully add a step or two with his open ice speed to really get him places.\u201d<\/p>\n

As arguably the top prospect in the system, Martone will naturally be a player to watch when he returns for Flyers training camp in September. Even if he\u2019s still developing, there would seem to be a window for him to make the NHL team out of camp, with left wing Tyson Foerster\u2019s status up in the air due to an infection in his arm. Martone is listed as a right wing, but said on Sunday he also played left wing frequently this past season at OHL Brampton. Remember, too, that Briere said on June 28 that Martone is \u201cpretty close to being ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the bar Martone needs to clear to make the Flyers\u2019 opening night roster will still be high.<\/p>\n

And, it might even have a name: Alex Bump.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alex Bump has put himself in a position to compete for a position to make the Flyers roster. (Courtesy the Philadelphia Flyers)<\/p>\n

In the scrimmage on Sunday to close out camp, Bump was head and shoulders above everyone else, including Martone. Even when Bump wasn\u2019t generating offense \u2014 he potted two goals and hit the crossbar on a breakaway to just miss recording a hat trick \u2014 the 21-year-old wing was all around the puck, making plays and showcasing a skill and anticipation level well above those around him.<\/p>\n

Bump already had a decent shot to make the Flyers\u2019 opening night roster. If Foerster is still recovering in October, the odds increase.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Bump\u2019s put himself in a position, regardless of Foerster\u2019s injury, where he\u2019s going to be competing for a job,\u201d Flahr said. \u201cHe\u2019s done everything we\u2019ve asked him to as far as his collegiate career, training since we\u2019ve drafted him, and you can see the product out there for a young guy. He\u2019s not coming to camp to hope to play one day. He\u2019s coming to make the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bump, who wrapped up his fourth development camp since the Flyers drafted him in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, says he\u2019s steadily improved through the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve come a long way, for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is my fourth (development) camp. Just try to execute what they tell me to do. Obviously, they wanted me to improve my skating and get bigger, stronger, faster so I can hold onto pucks longer. I feel like I\u2019ve done that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a college player who spent the last two seasons at Western Michigan, Bump has yet to experience an NHL training camp. Considering everything he\u2019s accomplished \u2014 including an NCAA championship this year \u2014 and how far he\u2019s come as a player, he acknowledged that he\u2019s \u201cpumped\u201d for September.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s complacent, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important every day to go get better, because if you don\u2019t, someone\u2019s catching you,\u201d Bump said.<\/p>\n

Martone\u2019s going to try.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s tons of great hockey players here. I think I stack up good against everyone,\u201d Martone said. \u201cOverall, we\u2019ve got lots of skill in this prospect pool.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Top photo of Porter Martone at development camp: Courtesy Philadelphia Flyers)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VOORHEES, N.J. \u2014 It\u2019s been more than a quarter-century since the Philadelphia Flyers saw a player reach 50…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":46460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,3108,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-46459","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}