D-CAMP: St. Martin is loving his first camp with the Panthers. The sixth-round pick in 2024 is having a great time on his first trip to South Florida.
Hunter St. Martin has spent his entire life getting ready for this, according to Fort Lauderdale.
The 19-year-old, who was selected in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Draft (193rd overall), made plans to attend his first-ever NHL camp in South Florida, his first visit to the state.
Despite being a recent addition to the Florida Panthers, he has a strong passion for the rink.
The Alberta native’s parents are to blame for encouraging him to pursue hockey: his mom is a skilled Olympic figure skater, while his dad was a former hockey great in the WHL.
“They are really hard workers,” St. Martin told FloridaPanthers.com of his parents. “They built everything for themselves, and it gave me a chance to build my own path.”
A second-generation Tiger, St. Martin followed in his father’s footsteps when he was drafted into the WHL by Medicine Hat, the same team his father, Blair, played for from 1994-1998.
With two seasons now under his belt with the Tigers, St. Martin feels he’s making strides.
“My first full year I learned a lot of the basics of being a junior player,” he said.
In his first taste of the WHL in 2022-23, St. Martin notched 22 points (8-14-22) in 61 games.
Then, everything really began to come together this past season.
In 2023–24, he doubled his point total by scoring 52 points (24–28–52) in 68 games.
According to St. Martin, “I was given more of an opportunity this past year, and I took that as a chance to flourish.”
He did indeed flourish.
The quick scorer explained that you only need to “control what you control” and “work, play your game, and just trust your process” in response to questions concerning the year-over-year rise.
