The fanfare regarding the debut of Porter Martone is warranted for a lot of reasons, chief among them being that the Philadelphia Flyers are adding yet another potential top line forward for the future, who genuinely seems to want to play for the franchise.
But in more specific on-ice terms, there is one specific area that the Flyers desperately need help in, and that is on the man advantage.
In the midst of yet another year where they sit in 32nd in the NHL in power play percentage, the Flyers have struggled to take any meaningful steps forward at 5-on-4, despite adding Trevor Zegras, and increased offensive production from players like Christian Dvorak and Owen Tippett.
But in fairness to this year’s roster, the power play struggle is an issue that extends far beyond this year. For each of the last five seasons, the Flyers have been ranked bottom three in the league in power play percentage, and four out of those five years, they have found a way to end up last. The personnel has changed, coaches have changed, and yet the overall system seems to lack any sort of bite or ability to have repeatable success.
Martone will help with that, obviously. He is an uber-talented offensive player with great on-ice vision that has no problem carrying the puck into the opposing team’s end. But there is one particular role that Martone could play that could totally shift the Flyers’ fortunes on the man advantage.
Putting Porter Martone netfront could give you a unique advantage
Now it’s important to mention that no matter where you place Martone on the power play, he’ll probably succeed. In his time in junior and college hockey, he has proven to be adept on his off-wing; setting up for one-timers and putting all of his 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame into booming shots that goaltenders can’t catch up to. At the same time, his vision and superior passing ability could make him a weapon along the goal line, distributing to the point men and trying to look cross-seam.
But the real moneymaker for Martone could come at the netfront.
The Flyers love to take shots from the perimeter and crash the net on the power play. Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale have both seen their roles as shooters increase since the Olympic break, and there seems to be an emphasis being put on getting pucks to the net since the man advantage struggles have persisted.
While the Flyers have created rebounds at times, it’s been a lot of one-and-done chances, largely due to the fact that they don’t really have a player that suits the role of playing netfront that can clean up any opportunities. Tyson Foerster could perhaps have been a suitable fit, but he’s obviously been out of commission for most of the year and there wasn’t enough time to try it out with him not being that main trigger man.
Outside of Foerster, there were some Sean Couturier experiments earlier in the year, as well as some Noah Cates minutes in the same role. But neither of those players have particularly dazzling hands in tight, nor do they have the sort of nose for the net that would really take advantage of all the grade-A chances they get in that spot. The Flyers aren’t as East-West centric as some other power play setups, so if someone like Martone was to really hit a stride around the netfront, they would have ample opportunity to take advantage of some high danger chances.
And looking back to the more successful power play units in recent Flyers history, there’s always an x-factor in front of the net: Wayne Simmonds, Scott Hartnell, even James van Riemsdyk, all of these guys were consistent threats for 10-plus power play goals a year, despite hovering around the blue paint almost exclusively and not having the most varied skillsets, to say the least.
And that is what makes the thought of a netfront role for Martone so appetizing. He has the frame to effectively screen the goalie and take up prime real estate in front, but at the same time, his offensive package is such that he can create plays from in tight just as well. He can offer some alternative options for a team that sorely needs them, and Martone in a sort of pseudo-netfront role where he can flare out to either hashmark or the high slot, depending on the flow of the game, is the sort of shake-up that the team needs to reverse this trend.
The best role for Martone may actually be something that allows him to prowl around the Home Plate area, as well as behind the net, taking advantage of whatever soft spots he sees arise while ultimately finding his way back to the top of the crease/low slot.
It’s not going to be an overnight fix, and the pressure certainly shouldn’t all be placed on Martone’s shoulders, but the Flyers have been crying out for a potent netfront option for about as long as they have been a number one centerman. It remains to be seen if Martone actually gets thrown into the fire immediately, but in the long term view, it seems like a near perfect fit for the future.
