The tweets have come and gone for years.
Former Philly radio host John Kincade posted on X in February 2025: “I say @flyers offer a slew of those draft picks and we get Brady Tkachuk back to the states. 🇺🇸“
This past February, Crossing Broad posted: “the Flyers need a Tkachuk, either one will do.”
And in April, when there was an uptick in trade rumors after it became apparent the then-Ottawa Senators captain wanted out, FlyersJohnny wrote, “Brady Tkachuk would be a perfect Philadelphia Flyers player.”
It’s not a surprise.
Brady Tkachuk — and Matthew, his brother and new linemate on the Florida Panthers after June’s trade — has the blend of skill and grit that has long been a hallmark of the Flyers. The two sons of longtime NHL power forward Keith Tkachuk, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November, can rack up points — especially on the power play — and equally get under opponents’ skin.
The younger Tkachuk brother, Brady, has put up big point and penalty minute totals throughout his eight-year career. He’s averaged 31 goals, 66 points, and 118 penalty minutes per 82 games, including posting 35 goals, a career-high 83 points, and 126 PIMs in 2022-23.
Matthew, who is 21 months older, has been even more impactful — and as much of a nuisance — with 82-game career averages of 31 goals, 82 points, and 90 penalty minutes. The pair’s exploits have earned them a whopping 1,559 career penalty minutes — with Brady (second) and Matthew (seventh) each ranking in the top 10 in penalty minutes per game since the former entered the league in 2018-19.
“Always the bridesmaid, eh, Leon? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride,” Matthew Tkachuk was famously heard saying via a hot mic to Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl during February’s Olympics.
Google “Brady Tkachuk chirping” and you’ll find plenty, none suitable for print.
Matthew has won two Stanley Cups with Florida, and the brothers — who famously dropped the gloves on the opening shift with J.T. Miller against Canada at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off — just helped Team USA win gold at the Olympics for the first time since 1980.
It’s why every NHL general manager seems hungry to add a true power forward of Brady and Matthew’s agitating ilk to their lineup. The Flyers are no different. Skill. Grit. Getting under opponents’ skin. Those attributes fit with the franchise’s archetype of hard-nosed, blue-collar players dating back to the Broad Street Bullies. There was Gary Dornhoefer in the 1970s, Tim Kerr and Rick Tocchet in the ’80s, Eric Lindros and John LeClair in the ’90s, and Keith Primeau and Wayne Simmonds since the turn of the millennium.
Next up: Porter Martone?
‘A star in the making’
Martone came out like gangbusters.
In nine games with the Flyers last spring, after wrapping up a dominant freshman season at Michigan State, the teenager notched four goals and 10 points. The sixth overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft’s first career goal was a monster one: an overtime winner against the Boston Bruins that kept the Orange and Black’s playoff dreams alive. He met the moment of the postseason, too, adding two goals and five points in 10 playoff contests.
“He has just that ‘it factor,’ and you know he’s going to be a good hockey player for a really long time. So maybe how quickly he did [it] I was a little surprised. But you know he was going to get to it eventually,” forward Noah Cates told The Inquirer on Thursday about Martone’s fast start.
“ … He’s a star in the making.”
Cates and his teammates are excited to see what the 19-year-old can bring in his first full pro season. And expectations are high. The Canadian is the betting favorite to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie.
That’s the key word: rookie.
Although he has Hockey Canada pedigree, serving as captain at multiple age groups, Martone was drafted only 15 months ago. Given his impressive run in last year’s playoffs and 6-foot-3, 214-pound frame, it’s easy to forget he’s still a teenager.
But Martone, who, in addition to the Tkachuk brothers, grew up modeling his game after “The Worm,” Corey Perry, does not play like a wide-eyed kid. He has the skill and confidence to fill the net and the size, snarl, and tongue to crawl under his opponents’ skin.
In 19 games, including playoffs, he racked up six penalties — and drew six more.
“I think it’s great to have a little bit of size up front, have some physicality. The last few years, that’s one area we wanted to get a little bigger, be a little tougher to play against, and you add a guy like him doing that. … He has the size, the physicality, and then the under-your-skin kind of approach,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière told The Inquirer recently.
“I think it’s exciting. Our fans have had the chance to see him down the stretch in the playoffs last year, but they’re going to get to appreciate him even more as he gets more and more comfortable. It’s not easy for a young guy to come in this league and to play that way right away. It takes a little bit of time, which we understand, and we’re going to give him the time that he needs for that.”
‘He wants the puck’
Brière doesn’t think it’s fair to compare Martone to the Tkachuks just yet, as the brothers have been doing it for years. But Martone is building his own reputation as an agitator, notably stirring the pot at World Juniors against Czechia and frequenting the middle of scrums against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs. The Flyers GM wants him to “find his own style,” but acknowledged the youngster’s game is “definitely a combination of abrasiveness and skill at the same time.”
Martone will get his first extended opportunity to showcase that in-your-face brand of hockey in the NHL this season.
Based on preseason line combinations, it looks like he is penciled in to play on a line with creative center Trevor Zegras and high-flying winger Owen Tippett. The plan is also to deploy Martone in the bumper on the first power-play unit with forwards like Zegras, Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster — a guy Cates says Martone is similar to in stature, release, and reach — and defenseman Jamie Drysdale.
Tocchet, a beloved Flyers power forward himself and now the team’s head coach, sees the comparison to the Tkachuk brothers, particularly with the man advantage.
“Well, I think part of his talent is the Matthew Tkachuk, Brady, inside game,” said Tocchet, who had four 30-goal seasons with the Flyers and is the franchise’s all-time leader in penalty minutes (1,815).
“I don’t want to compare, but I remember Tim Kerr; people could be all over him [and] he could still score,” Tocchet said of his old teammate.
Kerr notched 650 points in 601 games as a Flyer before injuries took a toll, and he remains the franchise’s all-time leader in power-play goals (144).
“Porter’s got that — we talked the other day — like he wants the puck, even though he’s covered, especially on the power play,” Tocchet said. “Like he’s got that; he can somehow protect it and get that shot off. A lot of guys don’t have that in the tool bag. I was talking to [Michkov] and Zegras: If you see him around the net with people on him with another guy, throw it there.
“ … So hopefully, we’ll start to throw pucks in Porter’s way, where he can kind of redirect or outmuscle a guy in front to get those goals. Those are the [things] that I think that he can be really elite at as his career goes on.”
Face of the franchise
It will be interesting to see how things progress as Martone’s career rolls on. He quickly drew acclaim with his play last season, even catching the eye of Matthew Tkachuk before they ever met on the ice. “Martone, he looks unreal,” he said in April on his show, Wingmen with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, before adding, “That Martone, he’s solid.”
The ceiling is high for Martone, and the accolades and accomplishments should continue to flow for a kid who, at 18, was skating alongside Sidney Crosby, Travis Konecny, Foerster, and Travis Sanheim at the 2025 World Championships.
Philly has been clamoring for the next Flyers superstar since Claude Giroux left. And now it may have two. Michkov’s game appears to be back on track, and the fan base, with many already donning Martone jerseys, looks ready to embrace a player who not only grew up a Flyers fan but embodies the spirit of the city.
And it makes sense that the Tkachuk brothers are also fans of Martone’s game. Brady, during his time at Boston University, said his favorite player was none other than former Flyer Wayne Simmonds, someone renowned for his skill, snarl, and willingness to battle in front of the net. Those traits are all present with Martone, too.
Back on his 2018 draft night, Brady Tkachuk had “Trust the Process” silk-screened on the inside of his suit. He scored his first two NHL goals and three points against the Flyers on Oct. 10, 2018.
Maybe it was a message to the Flyers. Maybe it was a message that they should have moved up to get him. Maybe the Flyers at long last have that type of player in Martone.
When asked Thursday about his style and how he balances having so much skill and playing with an edge, the 19-year-old Martone showed his maturity.
“Yeah, I think honestly, just get in the forecheck hard, try to cause turnovers, and get in front of the net. I think that’s where I’m at my best. You know, I think I can make those plays when I need to.
“So just try to, honestly, not get too much into the kind of out-of-play stuff and chirping because that’s when I get off my game. But just kind of continue to keep on playing with the skill and [be a] hard-nosed player.”
It all begins on Wednesday night.
