Flyers No. 6 overall pick Porter Martone says he’s joining Michigan State next season

TORONTO — Another high-profile junior hockey player is making the jump to U.S. college hockey.

Porter Martone, the Philadelphia Flyers’ sixth-overall pick at the 2025 NHL draft, said in an Instagram post Monday that he is joining NCAA Division I school Michigan State next season.

The 18-year-old Martone, from Peterborough, Ont., had 37 goals and 61 assists in 57 games as captain of the Ontario Hockey League’s Brampton Steelheads last season.

He joins a growing number of major junior stars choosing to play south of the border, including former Medicine Hat Tigers star Gavin McKenna.

The presumptive No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft committed to Penn State earlier this month after being named the Canadian Hockey League’s player of the year and helping the Western Hockey League’s Red Deer Rebels reach the Memorial Cup final.

The NCAA lifted a long-standing ban in November, allowing CHL players to compete at U.S. colleges starting next season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2025.