Jun 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Porter Martone is selected as the sixth overall pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft at Peacock Theater. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Inside the Flyers war room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, the Flyers had several spirited discussions this week.
The room was full of opinions - and when you have 30-or-so folks who are all focused on the same goal - bringing the Philadelphia Flyers back to prominence - there's sure to be some good debate over what decisions are the right ones.
You have General Manager Danny Briere, who is the kind of G.M. who likes to take big swings. You have assistant G.M. Brent Flahr, who meticulously combs through hundreds of reports on draft prospects and has a case made for an against each one.
You have dozens of scouts and analytics types who are using completely different measures to make arguments for or against certain players - the scouts usually standing by actually watching players play, in person, with their eyeballs, dozens of times while the analytics folks are able to spew out factual data that could make anyone wonder if their eyes are deceiving them.
You have a new head coach in Rick Tocchet, who likes certain kinds of players - and has know problem letting you know what type of athlete will work for him.
You have a President in Keith Jones, who may not be as in-tuned with the prospects of these 18-year-old players, but is so well-connected in the sport of hockey that he has a great feel for what 31 other teams might think about these same players, allowing the room to create a well-informed strategy.
It's no surprise, then, that the Flyers were still debating which direction they would go in the draft up until mid-week -just days before the draft was to occur.
"The last three or four days have been more intense than probably I've seen in the past," Flyers scout Mark Greig told me on Snow The Goalie's live draft show on Friday.
It's not a surprise. Sources said there was a real split in the room as the Flyers debated three potential players that ended up being available to them at their first pick - pick No. 6 - scoring winger Porter Martone, who the Flyers ended up selecting - or centers James Hagens and Jack O'Brien.
Hearing the Flyers have had some spirited discussion in the war room over the last 24 hours or so. A name they will now think about if he’s there at pick No. 6 - that they weren’t thinking about before the Zegras trade - is Porter Martone. We’ll discuss on @SnowTheGoalie tonight!
"I love the fact that there was some fighting and yelling in there," Tocchet said to me of the Flyers war room this week. "Guys are fighting for their guy. That's how you win. If everybody is agreeing and patting each other on the back, you're probably not going to win. I love that there was a lot of competitiveness in that room. I love people that speak up and there were a lot of guys fighting for (Martone). And in the end, everyone was in agreement."
Briere told the media after the first round that selecting Martone wasn't impacted at all by the recent trade for Trevor Zegras - that the Flyers would have drafted him even had they not made the Zegras trade.
But sources told me that once the Zegras trade happened, those who were fighting for either Hagens or O'Brien were more willing to coalesce around the group decision to draft Martone.
And so when Martone, who many evaluators had as the third-best player in the draft after defenseman Matthew Scaeffer who was drafted first overall by the New York Islanders and center Michael Misa who went to San Jose at No. 2, made it to No. 6, the Flyers made the decision to draft the best player, and not worry about positional need in the organization.
"When (Brady) Martin went to Nashville (at No. 5), I saw a lot of smiles in that room," Tocchet said. "When you're talking the Tkachuk brothers or the Corey Perry ilk - I don't want to put pressure on the kid - but those guys are winners. From what I've been told and even from the video I've watched, (Martone) can be a special player."
Yes, Martone has been compared to both Matthew and Brady Tkachuk as well as Corey Perry. Others have compared him to Filip Forsberg. On the ESPN broadcast on Friday they compared him to Mikko Rantanen.
All five comps are lofty, but it's also what drew the Flyers to him and away from the centers - Martone has that it factor that should make him a consistent All-Star in the NHL, and with such a big frame already - at 6-3 and 220 pounds - he has a body that is closer to being NHL ready than most 18-year olds.
That's not to say that he's going to come right into the NHL - he's likely not, unless the Flyers want to give him that taste like they did to Jett Luchanko for a couple games last season - but he's not a player that's going to be a few years away from his debut either.
Jack Nesbitt, the other player the Flyers drafted on Friday, will take some more time.
Nesbitt is a another big-bodied forward. He's a center whose stock started rising higher and higher as the draft drew closer with a lot of teams falling in love with his raw tools - even if he is a heavy skater, which is his one major flaw.
The Flyers scouts were high on Nesbitt and what he could ultimately become - which many believe is a second line center in the NHL if he can correct his skating.
But the Flyers intel was that Nesbitt wasn't making it to their next pick at No. 22. There were multiple teams picking in the teens who were targeting him.
As such, the Flyers needed to take a chance to get him. So Briere swung a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, giving them picks No. 22 and 31 to jump up to 12 to select Nesbitt.
And why were they willing to be so aggressive for a player who was ranked anywhere from 15th to 25th depending on wat "expert's" list you were looking at?
"The package," Briere said. "The combination of the size, the grit, the playmaking abilities, the goal scoring already. In the second half of the season he took a big step on a really good Windsor (OHL) team."
When asked about his skating flaw, Briere admitted it existed, but said it wasn't a fatal one. He compared it to Tyson Foerster - who had a similar criticism about his game that had him tumble to the No. 23 pick in the 2020 draft. Foerster overcame it enough to already be a productive goal scorer in the NHL and the Flyers feel there is even more in his game as he continues to get older.
"If (Nesbitt) hits as a second line center, it's going to be a huge asset for us," Briere said.
If Nesbitt is as good at fixing his skating issues as he is at his Bryce Harper-level of pandering to a Philadelphia fanbase, then he'll be just fine:
.@NHLFlyers first round pick Jack Nesbitt: “Philadelphia is the better Pennsylvania team out of them and Pittsburgh.” #LetsGoFlyers #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/DwUQfSxG8B
As the Flyers enter Day 2 of the draft, they'll still be looking for a few things. Keep an eye on names like Alexander Zharovsky, Jack Murtaugh and Semyon Frolov in the second round. Beyond that, it's developmental depth.
Even if they don't hit on anything else in this draft, the Flyers have to feel really good about the additions of Martone and Nesbitt, and how they will fit into the core of this team over the next decade.
