2025 NHL Draft: Lose a ton for Porter Martone

[DG93]

Unless the Sharks go on a big run, they are going to finish bottom-2 (only Chicago looks worse) and pick top-4. I'm not too worried about any prospects outside of the big-4 tbh

 

[vortexy]

Look out both Nashville and Chicago get big unexpected wins tonight, great news!

 

[Star Platinum]

Look out both Nashville and Chicago get big unexpected wins tonight, great news!

 

[DG93]

Those 2 games vs Nashville coming up next week are gonna be super important. If the Sharks lose both, they'll be 7-9 points back with Nashville having 3 games in hand. That will help with creating separation between SJ/Chicago and the next few teams.

 

[Jargon]

Those 2 games vs Nashville coming up next week are gonna be super important. If the Sharks lose both, they'll be 7-9 points back with Nashville having 3 games in hand. That will help with creating separation between SJ/Chicago and the next few teams.

Well, Askarov will need a shutout in one of those games but yeah…

 

[Shark Finn]

Well, Askarov will need a shutout in one of those games but yeah…

Askarov OTW shutout, Fourgiev regulation loss. Done and done.

 

[coooldude]

Sometimes it feels he is going through the motions and isn't pushing like it's pretty obvious he can. When he does play at the speed he can play he's one of the best prospects in the class. It just isn't always that he's doing that IMO.

If you've watched a lot of him over two days, probably have seen more of him than me. However, I think this is kind of a Hallmark of the CHL at this point... Feels like literally everyone is inconsistent, and the level of play even within game has major variability.

To be honest he reminds me of a faster Couture. That's not saying he's going to have a career like Couture's, just that he reminds me of him. A smart hockey player, with good instincts, NHL average to above average across the board qualities, can sometimes leave you wanting more.

I've been saying Marleau. Fast, skilled, smart, all arounder, versatile, but maybe not that deceptive or dynamic, and not as physical as he could be. Probably not a 40-goal scorer consistently, but could be a really important piece of a contender. In contrast, you could see Martone scoring 40 multiple times but also being inconsistent and bouncing around the league.

I want to watch more though before I settle him into a ranking of the top 4 officially. Like I said when he's on it really feels like he's a top prospect. Right now my gut is saying Schaefer, Hagens, Martone, Misa but those last three are going to be hard to place. Misa may end up as high as 2 or as low as 4.

I feel like he's a lock for the top 4 but I agree it's not yet clear where everyone sorts out. Really hoping for Hagens to come on strong to end the year so that he's challenging or clear for 1OA and gives us a shot at Schaefer at likely 2-4 spot.

 

[Kcoyote3]

If you've watched a lot of him over two days, probably have seen more of him than me. However, I think this is kind of a Hallmark of the CHL at this point... Feels like literally everyone is inconsistent, and the level of play even within game has major variability.

I've been saying Marleau. Fast, skilled, smart, all arounder, versatile, but maybe not that deceptive or dynamic, and not as physical as he could be. Probably not a 40-goal scorer consistently, but could be a really important piece of a contender. In contrast, you could see Martone scoring 40 multiple times but also being inconsistent and bouncing around the league.

Marleau is a good comp too. Misa still has a couple steps to get to Marleau's level of skating but Marleau was just such a natural skater. But yeah they are similar in a lot of ways. Can only hope that Misa turns out like Marleau or Couture even.

Definitely a thing with almost all draft eligibles. I wouldn't say that Misa's inconsistency is any worse than any other prospect. I just occasionally wanted more from him in the games I watched. Then he would turn it on re-engage and it would be fine.

Martone has way more inconsistency in his play for a comparison. Watching him today.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I don't hate "faster Couture" as a Misa comp at all, feels pretty accurate to me. Kind of a dream 2C.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Martone has probably the best puck control and handling in this class. Soft hands, excellent puck receptions, tons of deception and using the defender's triangle to make plays through players. Looking for the highlight reel play frequently. Often will pass up the easy play for the difficult one and can get burned by it. Turnovers can become an issue because of it. Will occasionally have some poor shot selection too and team can lose possession by trying to pick a corner from a bad angle.

Excellent shooting skills though. Powerful shot that can beat goalies from distance. A true dual-threat forward with his hands, playmaking talent and shooting skills.

Skating is not amazing. Not a lot of power in his stride, can only get up to an average top speed. Acceleration is poor. Can use his edges to escape pressure and hold onto the puck though. It's more a pace issue than just a true skating issue though. I think with time this can improve. He's not like Matthew Wood level of bad skater (but a better and more physical Wood is a good comparison for a recently drafted guy).

Great puck control and frame allows him to control the play offensively. Hard to get off the puck in open ice, but struggles in board battles. He falls behind on the forecheck because of his not great skating and can take stick penalties because of it. The physicality can be there but he can be left behind by faster players on the boards. Has some feisty qualities as well at times, but more often he's just taking dumb penalties because of it.

Defensively he's a threat on the PK only because he is looking for the home-run turnover at the blueline. Doesn't have a great mind for defense and easily loses his man on the PK or during the cycle at evens. An offense first winger that is doing the bare minimum defensively and wanting to fly the zone when his teammate gains possession.

The combination of hands, shooting, playmaking, offensive IQ has to put him as a top 5 especially in this class. The concerns are real. It's hard to find guys with his skating/pace and meh defensive play that are consistently in the NHL. HOWEVER, the raw talent is undeniable. He can mold into a true power winger. You draft him, work on his conditioning, work on his skating, round him out over the next 2 years and he could become a top-line wing in the NHL. He will need time though. Someone like Misa or Schaefer could survive in a pro league on a low pairing/line, whereas Martone would very likely not right now.

 

[Hodge]

I just don't want Hagens. The other three all sound like they would be amazing additions to our future core.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Martone has probably the best puck control and handling in this class. Soft hands, excellent puck receptions, tons of deception and using the defender's triangle to make plays through players. Looking for the highlight reel play frequently. Often will pass up the easy play for the difficult one and can get burned by it. Turnovers can become an issue because of it. Will occasionally have some poor shot selection too and team can lose possession by trying to pick a corner from a bad angle.

Excellent shooting skills though. Powerful shot that can beat goalies from distance. A true dual-threat forward with his hands, playmaking talent and shooting skills.

Skating is not amazing. Not a lot of power in his stride, can only get up to an average top speed. Acceleration is poor. Can use his edges to escape pressure and hold onto the puck though. It's more a pace issue than just a true skating issue though. I think with time this can improve. He's not like Matthew Wood level of bad skater (but a better and more physical Wood is a good comparison for a recently drafted guy).

Great puck control and frame allows him to control the play offensively. Hard to get off the puck in open ice, but struggles in board battles. He falls behind on the forecheck because of his not great skating and can take stick penalties because of it. The physicality can be there but he can be left behind by faster players on the boards. Has some feisty qualities as well at times, but more often he's just taking dumb penalties because of it.

Defensively he's a threat on the PK only because he is looking for the home-run turnover at the blueline. Doesn't have a great mind for defense and easily loses his man on the PK or during the cycle at evens. An offense first winger that is doing the bare minimum defensively and wanting to fly the zone when his teammate gains possession.

The combination of hands, shooting, playmaking, offensive IQ has to put him as a top 5 especially in this class. The concerns are real. It's hard to find guys with his skating/pace and meh defensive play that are consistently in the NHL. HOWEVER, the raw talent is undeniable. He can mold into a true power winger. You draft him, work on his conditioning, work on his skating, round him out over the next 2 years and he could become a top-line wing in the NHL. He will need time though. Someone like Misa or Schaefer could survive in a pro league on a low pairing/line, whereas Martone would very likely not right now.

I endorse this assessment. The puck skills, playmaking, and finishing in tight are the best in the class IMO, never mind in that big frame. But there are a LOT of concerns I have off-puck. Truly a boom-bust guy, if he improves skating/leg strength and defensive commitment, he could be a star. But if he doesn't, what is he?

 

[Kcoyote3]

I just don't want Hagens. The other three all sound like they would be amazing additions to our future core.

Hagens may be a bit redundant. He’s probably the one I’ve watched the most over the years. Think he makes sense for Chicago but maybe not for the Sharks

 

[Hodge]

Hagens may be a bit redundant. He’s probably the one I’ve watched the most over the years. Think he makes sense for Chicago but maybe not for the Sharks

Chicago may also avoid Hagens since they already have so many smurfs. I'm worried they're going to realize Schaefer is way better than Levshunov, Korchinski and all the other defensemen they've recently drafted and just take him.

 

[coooldude]

Hagens may be a bit redundant. He’s probably the one I’ve watched the most over the years. Think he makes sense for Chicago but maybe not for the Sharks

Definitely a bit redundant, but we should also accept that if we get him at 4 or if our staff picks him over others at 2-3, that's an amazing prospect and probably the second most important piece in the rebuild. Means Smith's future is a little less certain and we lack size up front.

 

[hohosaregood]

So side question. Who would you pick at 4? Seems like the shine is coming off of Martone and some of the swedes like Eklund are picking it up. Is Martone still locked in at 4?

 

[coooldude]

So side question. Who would you pick at 4? Seems like the shine is coming off of Martone and some of the swedes like Eklund are picking it up. Is Martone still locked in at 4?

There's a lot of chatter on Martone's thread that maybe his hold on 4 is weakening because of the inconsistent effort and commitment to D.

Threats to surpassing him at 4 are roughly, Frondell, Eklund, McQueen, J. Smith, Desnoyers, Bear. Not in that order, lots of ?s in there too.

 

[Juxtaposer]

So side question. Who would you pick at 4? Seems like the shine is coming off of Martone and some of the swedes like Eklund are picking it up. Is Martone still locked in at 4?

Still Martone. And I like Eklund a ton, I just don't think he's got nearly the upside that Martone does. Floor is higher and obviously there's the Eklund connection that would be fun, but that's just not the player we need with a lottery pick.

Quite ironically, if you combined Martone and Eklund, you'd get pretty much the perfect winger. Martone's size, hands, playmaking, and finishing with Eklund's tenacity, physicality, shot, and skating,

The only way I see the Sharks taking anyone else at 4 would be if Roger McQueen comes back completely healthy and absolutely torches the WHL for the rest of the season. Maybe Jackson Smith if they're absolutely desperate for a D.

 

[Zarzh]

Hagens may be a bit redundant. He’s probably the one I’ve watched the most over the years. Think he makes sense for Chicago but maybe not for the Sharks

I feel like the main difference between Hagens and Misa is people have to make excuses for Hagens, and against Misa, partially because he has such a great median outcome. But the question for Misa especially if he scores 65-70 goals is why are we putting a cap on his scoring ability?

 

[TheBeard]

I feel like the main difference between Hagens and Misa is people have to make excuses for Hagens, and against Misa, partially because he has such a great median outcome. But the question for Misa especially if he scores 65-70 goals is why are we putting a cap on his scoring ability?

Is there really a difference between hagens and smith? I mean he literally just took over Smith’s spot centering Perrault and Leonard.

There's a lot of chatter on Martone's thread that maybe his hold on 4 is weakening because of the inconsistent effort and commitment to D.

Threats to surpassing him at 4 are roughly, Frondell, Eklund, McQueen, J. Smith, Desnoyers, Bear. Not in that order, lots of ?s in there too.

I honestly think it’s a top 5 and then a crapshoot, similar to the 23-24 draft where after Smith it was a wild guess.

 

[coooldude]

Is there really a difference between hagens and smith? I mean he literally just took over Smith’s spot centering Perrault and Leonard.

Hagens is a better skater, faster, a little shorter, probably more engaged defensively. If we pick him, I think he's the guy we look to as the 2C behind Celebrini more than Smith. But who knows what happens between now and June.

I honestly think it’s a top 5 and then a crapshoot, similar to the 23-24 draft where after Smith it was a wild guess.

Yeah, but who's in 5? Maybe Eklund, maybe not.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Is there really a difference between hagens and smith? I mean he literally just took over Smith’s spot centering Perrault and Leonard.


I honestly think it’s a top 5 and then a crapshoot, similar to the 23-24 draft where after Smith it was a wild guess.

Smith’s draft had the benefit of two star prospects in Michkov and Bedard as well as a very solid 3 behind them with Fantilli, Smith, Carlsson. A phenomenal draft all the way through beyond them though. Just missing real top tier defensemen.

This draft has a top 4 that is solid and then kind of a standard first round after. Schaefer is better (at least probably) than most of the recent draft’s defensemen.

 

[Zarzh]

Is there really a difference between hagens and smith? I mean he literally just took over Smith’s spot centering Perrault and Leonard.

There's some differences in playstyle but in terms of what they add to a team, most likely not assuming normal development curves, Smith might be a better and more consistent playoff performer while Hagens might have slightly higher peaks in the regular season.

 

[TheBeard]

Hagens is a better skater, faster, a little shorter, probably more engaged defensively. If we pick him, I think he's the guy we look to as the 2C behind Celebrini more than Smith. But who knows what happens between now and June.

Yeah, but who's in 5? Maybe Eklund, maybe not.

I think Eklund is a top 4. I like him more than Martone.

 

[hohosaregood]

Smith’s draft had the benefit of two star prospects in Michkov and Bedard as well as a very solid 3 behind them with Fantilli, Smith, Carlsson. A phenomenal draft all the way through beyond them though. Just missing real top tier defensemen.

This draft has a top 4 that is solid and then kind of a standard first round after. Schaefer is better (at least probably) than most of the recent draft’s defensemen.

Would it be comparable to the 2014 draft then? Kinda seeing some parallels. Schaefer:Ekblad, Hagens:Reinhardt, Misa: Draisaitl, Martone:Bennett