Film Room: How Brady Martin is built like a tank and thinks like a playmaker

Like the lightning-fast, three-to-four-month farming season that persists across Canada, Brady Martin’s ascension from first-round pick to top-10 projection was unrelenting and, frankly, inevitable.

The Soo Greyhound entered the 2024–25 season off an impressive, gold medal-winning performance at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup—immediately catching the interest of our scouting team.

His physical profile, hard-skill advantage creation, dogged defensive motor, forechecking, flashes of high-end puckhandling, inside attacking, and constant use of deception were all on full display throughout the tournament.

Despite receiving an A-grade rating on the NHL’s Central Scouting Service preliminary watch list, Martin was coming off a draft-minus-one season with a Greyhounds team pushing for playoff success—a last kick at the can for many of the forwards and defencemen on the roster. Ninth in points per game among draft-minus-one OHL rookies, Martin represented the next wave for the Western Ontario franchise—a wave he rode expertly throughout his draft season.

Involved in every facet of the game, the centre prospect’s second half of the season only improved, recording an even-strength point per game. It culminated in a standout performance at the 2025 IIHF U18 World Championship—where he captured gold while playing as a heavy, forceful attacker throughout the tournament, finishing among the top five in scoring when all was said and done.

An analytical darling, Martin’s impact was everything for the Greyhounds. He generated slot passes at a 99th-percentile rate, creating an exceptional number of expected goals through his efforts. His advantage creation—while consistently leveraging physicality—was eclipsed only by his remarkable offensive involvement whenever he was on the ice.

Deception and Magnetism across Playmaking 

Aspirin and caffeine, peanut butter and jelly, Disney and Pixar, French fries and ketchup—Martin’s playmaking and deception are yet another example of incredible synergy.

Everything about Martin’s intentions is hard to read. He sets up his passes by pulling pucks to his hip, even holding possession behind his legs. As defenders position themselves to clog lanes or take the body, Martin simply adjusts his upper body and threads passes through open lanes. His constant use of eyeline misdirection—through look-offs—only adds to his effectiveness, often catching gapped-up defenders off guard on the rush.

Frequently, when projecting a player’s ability to produce offence at higher levels, consistent advantage creation through deception is a strong indicator. It’s a variable of hockey sense and reflects a mindset built around always generating an edge on the opponent.
 

Martin similarly leverages patience to open room for others. Off the pass reception, he’s always looking to work into open space, whether it’s in the middle of the ice or a pocket on the perimeter, with the overarching goal of baiting attention. In many sequences throughout this season, Martin was able to goad overloads, double, and triple teams, only to connect with a supporter utilising the open ice. The passing skill is extremely high-end -- layers, hooks, one-touches, slips, backhand areas feeds -- the Ontarion has the full complement. 
 

How Martin makes mechanical issues work 

It’s pretty clear that, despite possessing a motor and activity rate that could only be described as a runaway train, Martin isn’t the prettiest mover. He operates in a high skating stance and has a general lack of explosiveness off his recoveries. Still, he found opportunities this season to generate speed, pulling off daring, handle-heavy attacking moves, again full of deception. 

The 2025 Elite Prospects NHL Draft Guide put it perfectly, 

“When Martin gets a head of steam, he looks unstoppable. He weaves through the neutral zone, alternating between holding the puck deep in his hip pocket and perfectly timed pushes through sticks and feet. With a seemingly bottomless bag of tricks, he regularly makes the flashy look easy.” 
 

Martin isn’t one to rely on a high volume of flashy puckhandling. In fact, he’s more of an underhandler—focused on well-timed dekes, attacking opponents’ weak sides, and adjusting rush patterns to the inside, all while jamming pucks into awkward, small-ice situations like defensive triangles. He builds speed through crossovers and weight shifts, executing with gathered momentum; when it all clicks, his end-to-end rushes look brilliant—his ideas verging on genius.

That said, individual attacking remains one of the less efficient areas of his game. Patterns of tunnel vision occasionally emerge, often leading to pace-heavy, north–south attacks into unfavourable odds. The decisions can be baffling—because he’s so daring in what he attempts. 
 

Conversely, through years of projecting similar issues, we’ve found that decision-making-based inefficiency is often not a major concern when projecting a player’s offensive game to higher levels. Forwards like Martin receive numerous opportunities during their junior and collegiate careers to experiment and refine what works—especially as their physical tools develop and begin to offer more consistent advantages. Given his current ability, Martin’s play selection should naturally improve over time.

Still, for Martin to truly translate his power-driven game to the NHL level, he’ll need to become more explosive. His power game, in many respects, remains a work in progress. Since the hallmarks of outside-to-inside attacking depend heavily on a player’s ability to turn defenders and access the inside lane, Martin sometimes struggles to reach the middle of the ice—particularly against more mobile defenders who can maintain tight gaps and contain him along the perimeter. He rarely creates the opportunity to drive at strong angles with a leading knee, often resulting in outside efforts or angle-off plays behind the net.

Across our team, we are pretty unanimous in the thought that Martin will have to become a better skater to unlock more offence at the NHL level -- something that will assuredly be addressed by whoever selects him. 

An NHL-calibre shot?

 Martin racked up an impressive 202 shots this year, shooting at roughly 16 per cent. His shot, simply put, is already mechanically sound. His strength, especially the downforce he generates, creates a powerful release, made better by his unlocked arms and weight transfer. He beats goalies at range, possesses a hard, but wild, one-timer, and he even changes the angle of his release as he works downhill. On top of that, he is deadly off the catch-and-release reception. 

It’s really the location of his shots and his ability to improve the condition of the puck that aids his scoring. He’s very inside-focused and racked up an absurd number of close-range efforts off the breakaway and the drop pass, all in the middle of the ice. 

Still, reining in his shooting will be the next step in unlocking more offence. Struggling with accuracy, there are many examples across this season where Martin should have generated a more dangerous scoring chance, but simply missed high or flubbed a shot placement into the middle of the net. Considering his mechanics, betting odds would say that he will improve, adding another dangerous option to his playmaking at higher levels, but across his draft season, he had much more dangerous opportunities than his 33 goals represent. 

Why Martin’s Physical Dimension is a Boon to his translatability 

Of course, Martin’s primary appeal as a player lies in his physical dimension, which provides a fairly robust floor. While he doesn’t stand out in terms of height—measuring six feet tall—Martin plays like a smaller version of Marvel’s Juggernaut. Picture him bulldozing through walls, and you’ve got the right idea.

Proactive contact is a major part of his forechecking profile. Since he’s not going to win every race, Martin lines up puck retrievers, times his approach, and drives low and upward to bump opponents off course. He quickly recovers loose pucks and uses his back to shield possession.

His reverse hits? Thunderous. 

In terms of translatability, proactive contact use is a main indicator that a player can survive, win battles, and create second-chance offence in the NHL. While Martin will face bigger, stronger opponents, the habits are already fully formed, primed to get even better as he himself becomes a stronger player with age. 

The physicality across his games this season is eye-popping, though. He doesn’t discriminate in terms of where he doles out this punishment, absolutely levelling opponents across all three zones of the ice. He hits through players, often to the point where they lose their balance completely, going horizontal. In terms of a fall-back skill, his floor is pretty robust as a checking quantity.  

Why Evaluators Differ on Martin’s future and where we stand

Inherently, Martin is a skilled attacker, equipped with high-end ideas and an almost limitless bag of tricks to create advantages. When you factor in his motor and overwhelming physical habits, you have an extremely appealing prospect.

Will you leave upside on the table by selecting Martin in the top five of the draft? That may well be the reality. Still, for some NHL teams, the combination of a high floor and high upside—paired with his all-around involvement and the intangible qualities Martin brings as a person—could make him a worthwhile hedge at that range. Nevertheless, that trade-off might be too steep for the top 10.

For us, while Martin remained one of our favourite prospects in this draft for many of the reasons outlined above, we also recognise that without mechanical improvements to his mobility, he could settle into a role-player ceiling—albeit a valuable one. Ranked 12th on our final board, our “shades of” comparison landed on Sam Bennett: a player with offensive pedigree who brings overwhelming presence and impact, even if he doesn’t produce gaudy point totals.

Yes, there is risk. But given the value NHL teams place on this archetype—and Martin’s potential to become an even more effective offensive threat—that outcome would be a strong one for the Elmira-born and raised centre: a player fans rally around because of what he brings to the game.