Flyers forwards Porter Martone and Jett Luchanko named to Canada’s World Junior roster

Two Flyers prospect are swapping orange and black for red and white.

Hockey Canada announced on Monday that forwards Porter Martone and Jett Luchanko will pack their bags for Minnesota to play in the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.

“I think it’s huge,” said coach Rick Tocchet. “To play for your country, and that high level … to be in that, it’s fast paced, the pressure, I mean, it just helps your growth go up.

“So that’s a nice feather in the cap for the Flyers to have a couple of high-level guys like that play for Canada.”

Martone, 19, the Flyers’ top pick in last June’s draft at No. 6, brings “size, strength, power, shot, playmaking, puck skill” in a 6-foot-3, 210-pound body.

At Flyers development camp in early July, he looked big and strong and was good off the puck, popping off a sharp shot, while making several key defensive plays that showcased his high hockey IQ.

» READ MORE: The Flyers are playing well for the first time in what seems like forever. Let’s enjoy them and stop complaining.

There was a thought that Martone could push for a spot on the Flyers this season, but instead, by late July, he had committed to play at Michigan State. As a freshman, the right winger leads the Spartans in goals (11), points (20), power-play goals (three), game-winning goals (three), and penalty minutes (58) in 16 games.

Martone will be skating in his second straight World Juniors. Last season, he was one of three skaters from his draft class to play for Canada, which usually takes an older roster, and lost in the quarterfinals to Czechia.

He scored a goal in three games and was then invited to participate in pre-tournament games and practices for Canada at the 2025 IIHF senior World Championships in May.

Unlike previous players in his role, he stuck around and was called into action when Bo Horvat was injured. He suited up in two games, alongside Flyers forwards Travis Konecny and Tyson Foerster, and defensemen Travis Sanheim.

“Oh yeah, I was all in,” Konecny said when asked if Flyers brass checked in with him about possibly drafting Martone.

“I said, ‘That’s a guy you can work with, that’s a guy that’s going to compete, that’s a guy that’s willing to learn, become a pro, play the right way,’” Konecny revealed in November. “You don’t really always get that information before the draft. And then on top of that, I mean, I think he can develop into a really special player.”

Luchanko has two goals and five points in five games after being traded to Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League. The speedy center was acquired from Guelph, where he had 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) in 11 games, on Nov. 24.

After breaking camp for the second straight season with the Flyers, Luchanko skated in four NHL games and did not register a point before being sent back to Guelph on Oct. 27.

“Very simple, we want him to play high minutes,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said when Luchanko was sent down. “We liked what we’ve seen. He could have stayed here; he showed that he can play. But we want more than that for him in the long run.

“And we felt at this point it was time for him to start playing high minutes and more of an offensive role, get back to playing power play, killing penalties, facing the top opposition on the other team, on a nightly basis.”

The 19-year-old played for Canada last year, averaging 12 minutes, 22 seconds of ice time across five games, scoring one goal, and although Brière thought “he performed great,” the Flyers were “disappointed” in the small role Canada gave Luchanko.

This year, Dale Hunter, who just coached Flyers prospects Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey to the Memorial Cup with London of the OHL, is the head coach for Canada.

Penn State’s Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft, and teammate defensemen Jackson Smith, a Columbus Blue Jackets first-rounder in 2025, are also on Canada’s roster.

Martone’s Michigan State teammate Shane Vansaghi, who was taken in the second round by the Flyers this past June, was named to USA Hockey’s preliminary roster for the tournament. Playing top-six minutes, the rugged forward has one goal and six points in 16 games for the Spartans.

Forward Jack Berglund, a second-round pick in 2024, has been named to Sweden’s roster, and forward Heikki Ruohonen, who was a fourth-rounder the same year and currently plays for Harvard, and 2025 pick Max Westergård are in the mix for Finland’s squad.

» READ MORE: Trevor Zegras has fit in seamlessly with the Flyers. What will it cost to keep him long-term?