Porter Martone is one of the most interesting prospects in the 2025 draft. The Canadian Winger is widely expected to go in the top five and is in contention for the Sharks at second overall. He may be the best fit for the San Jose Sharks going forward. TSN's Craig Button echoed this in his most recent mock draft “Mike Grier is building a team,” said Button. “He’s got Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini up the middle of the ice. He’s got a stud defenceman in Sam Dickinson. He doesn’t have anybody like Porter Martone.”
Martone is a highly skilled power forward who dominated the OHL this past season. The big winger scored 37 goals and 98 points for the Brampton Steelheads. Martone is an elite playmaker with excellent hands and hockey sense; he makes things look easy at the OHL level. What stands out to me the most is his ability to find space in front of the net, finish second-chance opportunities, and create chances of deflections. While Martone is not doing this consistently, it is not something he is tasked with often at the OHL level. these skills will be an asset to him when translating to the pro-style game and make me more comfortable with his ability to translate his scoring to the NHL. It is easy to see what Martone could be in the NHL and why he is so highly regarded; he has nearly every tool you could ask for in a player, though there are concerns.
Martone’s biggest weakness is his skating; it’s just the NHL's average, and there is concern that he could struggle to translate at an NHL pace. With that said, with the combination of high-end skill and hockey sense, I feel these concerns are a little overblown. While they are certainly a weakness, I don’t think they will hold him back in the long run, and being a winger, it is much easier to translate with average skating than a center at the NHL level.
When it comes to the fit for the Sharks, Martone is almost perfect for what the Sharks lack in their top 6; he brings much-needed size and puck possession ability that the Sharks lack, and he would be the ideal running mate with Macklin Celebrini for the next decade. Martone also fits the mold for the type of player the Sharks have targeted in the Draft over the last couple of years, in Quentin Musty and Igor Chernyshov, as the big, toolsy winger with high skill but maybe not the best skaters. However, Martone is on a different level and could be very attractive to the Sharks, who have been trying to find their top-line power forward of the future.
Martone may not be what Sharks fans are hoping for on draft day, with Schaefer or Misa being the perceived top options. Still, if the Sharks decide to take the bet on Martone, he has some of the highest upside in the draft and could be just what they need to take their team to the next level offensively.