NCAA Stock Watch: Porter Martone is living up to the hype as the top power forward in college

The past month has been a blistering one for the top offensive talents in college hockey, with three of them producing at an impressive clip and rounding out their games in substantial ways. Nowhere is this more true than in Michigan, as the two teams jostling for the top seed in the nation’s power rankings have been driven by relentless intensity and non-stop scoring.

Porter Martone’s transition to the collegiate pace has been beyond comfortable; he’s become even more impactful on a shift-to-shift basis, generating excellent defensive results while playing a hard-nosed style and sitting joint-tenth in NCAA goalscoring. He’s impressing not only Michigan State and Philadelphia Flyers faithful, but gathering legitimate arguments for – at least – consideration in the Hobey Baker race, as the offensive driver of one of the two best teams in the nation.

Switching over to the University of Michigan, William Horcoff and Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen have taken leaps in their development since October, with the former sitting at the helm of the production and goal-scoring charts, while the latter has established himself as a legitimate 2026 NHL Draft option as a re-entry and earned an invite to the USA World Juniors camp. 

Let’s kick things off with the sixth overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Stock Rising 📈 

Porter Martone, RW, Michigan State University (Philadelphia Flyers)

The tools have always been special for Martone, landing him in first overall debates a year ago and earning him a top-ten selection once the draft finally rolled around. However, some shortcomings in pace and meanness often stood out in the OHL. While still the same player at his core, Martone has overhauled his shift-to-shift impact upon arrival in the NCAA, a feat no other CHL transfer has managed. 

Blessed with elite playmaking vision, a lethal arsenal of shooting tools, and the skill and power blend to make coaches foam at the mouth come playoff time, the future Flyer’s defensive commitment and checking energy have stood out just as much – if not more – than his elite talent at this level.

Martone’s blend of hard skills, elevated pace of execution with the puck on his stick, and an increased knack for drawing in and deceiving defenders before playing through them has made him the most unstoppable power forward in college and paints the blueprint of how he will find success in the NHL when the time comes. 

Where others have stumbled trying to adapt to the NCAA pace and physicality, Martone has elevated his game and become more well-rounded and difficult to contain. That’s the mark of an elite player, and the Spartans and Flyers are lucky to have him. 

William Horcoff, C, University of Michigan (Pittsburgh Penguins)

With just half a season of collegiate action under his belt coming into this campaign, Horcoff has looked the part of a 23-year-old senior, dominating shifts at the net-front and backing up his intelligent and responsible play with ridiculous scoring output. 

Not only do his 28 points in 20 games place him tied for first in NCAA points, but his 19 goals surge ahead of the competition, with a comfortable lead of four. Maintaining this scoring rate will be more than challenging, but not since 1996-97 has a college player scored a goal per game or higher through at least 20 appearances. Horcoff is flirting with a record pace and has already equalled the D+1 goal output of Cole Caufield, and Christmas is still two weeks away. 

What should excite Penguins fans the most, however, has been the manner Horcoff scores his goals. He shoots from in tight, scoring from the hashmarks or net-front, generating impressive power and elevation on pucks in congested areas and with little backswing. That quickness of his release, paired with physical tools that have caused nightmares around the blue paint, boxing out defenders, screening goaltenders, and perpetually holding inside positioning, adds a layer of projectability to his gaudy goal tallies.

With a dominant month of November in the rearview, Horcoff has gotten December off to a strong start with a point in both games against rivals Michigan State, while remaining highly involved and rifling pucks on goal at every opportunity. He’s emerged as a star in college and is showing precisely the role he could someday excel in on the biggest stage in hockey.

Max Plante, C, University of Minnesota-Duluth (Detroit Red Wings)

If there was any doubt after his breakout freshman campaign that Max Plante can compete with the best creative forces the NCAA has to offer, they’ve been quickly extinguished, as he shares the top spot among the nation’s producers while beating opponents with deception, pace, intelligence, and creativity at every turn.

A natural hat-trick performance on November 21 against Colorado College showcased his status as a true dual-threat scorer in college – he has 14 goals and 14 assists through 18 games – no longer the predictable playmaker he could at times be last season. He attacked at different angles, never stuck to a single area to create his offence, and hid his point of release expertly, leaving the goaltender to try to spot pucks mid-air, prompting desperate reactions.

First came a five-on-three tally from the left circle, employing an encroaching defender as a screen, tying the score at two. In the third frame, Minnesota was afforded the luxury of another two-man advantage, and this time operating around the right circle, Plante hung onto the puck patiently, waited for the netminder to open up his pads a bit, and passed a low and precise puck through the opening, taking the lead. Finally, he iced the game from centre ice with thirty seconds on the clock, lobbing the puck into an empty net.

For a forward with special playmaking vision and creativity, this diversification has taken his impact to another level, but it remains that set-up ability that excited us the most. GTHL and crossover scout Kareem Elshafey had this to say in a November 14th game report:

“Plante has been one of the best players in the country so far, and it’s easy to see why. He’s a chance creation machine, headlined by high-level playmaking ability. He can make all kinds of passes, and in this game specifically, he connected on lots of cross-seam passes that were directly responsible for high-danger chances. Those passes get through because of his ability to hide his intention.”

Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen, LD, University of Michigan (2026 NHL Draft)

A puck-moving defenceman with high-end skating and an irreproachable defensive motor, Rhéaume-Mullen was already an interesting draft-eligible last season, landing just outside our second round at 65th overall in our 2025 Draft Guide. This year, he’s had his coming out party, however, leading the offensive charge from the blueline on a stacked University of Michigan squad and creating through his feet at every turn.

A frequent activator, Rhéaume-Mullen has gained a beat in composure and deception this campaign, leveraging his quick-twitch mitts for dynamic handling incursions, drawing in pressure, and skillfully evading checks. Nearly every game this season, he’s taken control of an offensive shift and worked his way around the entire zone, rotating with forwards, and eyeing potential openings like a hawk.

Defensively, he’s brought the same engagement he showed last season – aggressively closing his gaps upon entry and outworking bigger opposition – but added layers of patience, picking his spots and chasing the play less frequently. The size concerns will still hold some NHL teams back on draft day, but his special blend of quickness, agility, and intensity has earned a spot on the World Junior squad and made a path to the NHL as a puck-moving specialist less shrouded than it was a year ago.

Stock Steady ↔️

L.J. Mooney, RW/C, University of Minnesota (Montréal Canadiens)

L.J. Mooney has been as advertised in Minnesota. Dynamic, pacey, and ceaselessly intense. His production has been heating up, with ten points in his past eight games, but his style has been able to remain relatively similar to last season, as what worked in junior has continued to be effective in college.

Certain key progressions remain. Once a pure volume playmaker who rifled hope passes toward the slot at every opportunity when pressured, Mooney has become far more selective with his plays to the middle, preferring to hang onto possession and extend the cycle rather than taking a swing on a 10% chance of threading the needle. The result? A more patient creator, scanning for openings and pouncing at the right time, often using his downhill route to create an opening to cut the puck back to the mid-slot.

While his skill flashes are already among the brightest on his team, their regularity has come and gone a bit, depending on the period and game. To take that next step and progress to NCAA star status, Mooney will need to continue adding muscle to resist contact in the middle lane and complement his off-puck goalscoring smarts and playmaking skill with more determined drives to the net. 

Stock Falling 📉

Benjamin Kevan, RW, Arizona State University (New Jersey Devils)

With a game built on relentless speed and dynamic skill at higher gears, Benjamin Kevan was built to light up the USHL scoring charts last season. Even so, a lack of consistency and dipping back-half performances were at the core of the skepticism some on our scouting staff felt about his projection to higher levels. 

Those roadblocks have flared up early in his freshman campaign in the desert. 

He’s a talented handler, no doubt, and this has been evident in his flashes of extended puck touches this season. The lingering issue, however, is a reliance on space and time to operate at his peak level and create offence. 

Kevan has tallied three goals this season, and each of them has come when space opened up to a chasm. A yawning cage while stationed at the back-post and receiving a fortunate rebound; an acre of space in the mid slot when attacking downhill straight off the bench; a breakaway. In these instances, Kevan has been able to translate his above-average skill and speed to college offence, but these have been few and far between in a suffocating NCHC conference, marked by aggressive and structured defences, designed to limit players like the Fairfield, CA native.

With his ice time dwindling – now sitting at an average just over ten minutes on the season – Kevan’s chances to shine with strong puck skills and dynamic rushes have perpetually declined in the past month. He will need to adapt his game, resorting to quicker give-and-gos and spending more time driving the congested areas than sniffing around the perimeter, but he still has all the tools to drive offence at this level; we just haven’t seen it yet.