Shane Vansaghi already knows what it looks like when a young winger turns a promising game into something louder. He watched Porter Martone do it at Michigan State, and now he’s trying to make that same kind of leap himself.
Vansaghi played 35 games last season for a Spartans team that finished 26-9-2, missing only the two games when he represented Team USA at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship. He brought the kind of edge and energy that can swing a shift, but he also left room on the table offensively. The Flyers, who took him with one of their four second-round picks in 2025, see that part of his game as the next frontier.
He posted four goals and seven assists as a sophomore, a dip from his freshman year when he finished with six goals and 10 assists. Vansaghi knows exactly where the focus needs to go.
"You're always trying to improve different areas of your game," Vansaghi said in June. "I think for me, probably one of those areas of improvement needs to be the offensive part.
I've been working on that, it's kind of a work in progress, it takes time. It's definitely something that I need to get better at."
At 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, the 19-year-old already has the frame to make life difficult around the crease. That physical presence is part of why Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr singled him out after Philadelphia picked him 48th overall.
"He's a big, big kid, he plays a certain way," Flahr said. "There were not many players like him in this draft or many drafts. I think he has got some work to do to get to the NHL, but once he does, I think he'll be a fan favorite and he'll be a very welcomed teammate."
For Vansaghi, the decision to stay in school was about giving himself more time to sharpen the parts of his game that need polish. He watched Martone leave Michigan State and quickly become a major piece of the Flyers’ playoff push, but he didn’t see that as a cue to rush his own path.
After last season, he chose to return for a junior year with the Spartans, where he’ll keep working on the offensive side of the puck and try to turn more chances into production.
"I just thought it felt more comfortable going back to school and really working on the things that I needed to work on, specifically my offensive ability," Vansaghi said. "Kind of like the offensive touch and just getting more and more reps at Michigan State with the offensive side of the game.
"Michigan State has been so good to me, I think I've gotten a lot better throughout my time there, so I'm comfortable being there and developing. Hopefully one of these days my time at Michigan State can help me one day play for the Flyers."
Martone’s impact around the program was impossible to miss, and Vansaghi said the impression started immediately.
"Having Porter there was unbelievable," Vansaghi said. "Just right from Day 1, the first day I met him, just the nicest kid, really good teammate. One of those guys that you just want to have on your team, you want to play for."
Vansaghi wasn’t shocked when Martone started making noise at the next level, either. He had seen the talent up close long before the rest of the hockey world caught on.
"I believed in him," Vansaghi said. "I watched him play hockey every day for six months, I knew he was a good hockey player, I knew he could do it.
When he finally did make the jump and he was making the noise he was making, it was an unbelievable scene with our team. We'd get together almost every night and watch him play and get excited for him.
We were all so happy to see him have that success."
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The work has still mattered, with contract extensions, a trade to help in goal and on the blue line, and even an offer sheet for Leo Carlsson before Anaheim matched it. But with the 2026-27 season approaching, there is no sign of a major talent upgrade coming before opening night, leaving the Flyers to bet that incremental gains can add up while the bigger move waits for another day. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Playoff Hopes May Ride On One Risk They Havent Solved
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Philadelphia still has bigger questions it has to answer on the ice, starting with how quickly young players like Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov can grow into larger roles. The deeper concern, though, is on the blue line, where the bottom-pairing mix remains unsettled and the Flyers are still trying to sort out which unproven options can handle real NHL minutes without the whole structure wobbling. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Prospect Rankings Just Sparked A New Debate About The Pipeline
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The debate around the Flyers is not just about who made the list, but also about who did not. Five prospects were also included among Pronmans top 100 U23 players selected after Round 1, with Berglund, Matthew Gard, Denver Barkey, Shane Vansaghi and Martin Psohlavec all getting recognition. Even with that group on board, the omissions are part of the story too, and they leave room for more discussion about how Philadelphias long-term young talent stacks up against expectations. [Read more 🡒]