The Florida Panthers selected wiry forward Hunter St. Martin in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft at the astounding Sphere in Paradise, Nevada.
During his draft season, the smooth-skating left wing produced 24 goals and 28 assists in 68 regular season games for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League. His 52 points were a 30-point improvement over his total in his first full season in the league.
In the WHL playoffs, St. Martin scored a goal and added four assists as the Tigers were ousted in five games in the opening round by the Red Deer Rebels.
Developing instant chemistry with 2023 second-rounder Gracyn Sawchyn, St. Martin made a big impact at his first development camp and the 2024 Rookie Showcase in Nashville, scoring in all three games as the Panthers went 1-2, serving notice that he was a prospect worth keeping an eye on.
In an NHL exhibition game on September 28, St. Martin’s rebound created Jesper Boqvist’s game-winning goal in a 5-4 overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
After a torrid start to the 2024-25 season that saw St. Martin pour in seven goals in Medicine Hat’s first eight games, the Panthers signed him to a three-year, entry-level contract on October 25.
St. Martin finished the year tied for tenth in the WHL in goal scoring with 39, and was second to future first overall pick in 2026, Gavin McKenna on the Tigers in that category. He added 20 assists to finish the campaign with 59 points, a modest seven-point increase from the prior season.
The postseason saw St Martin take it up a notch, amassing seven goals and ten assists in 18 games as Medicine Hat stormed its way to the Ed Chynoweth Cup, dropping just two games along the way.
At the Memorial Cup, St. Martin scored the game-winning goal and had an assist in the Tigers’ tournament-opening round robin game against host Rimouski. He was held off the score sheet in the next three games as Medicine Hat ended up falling 4-1 to the London Knights in the final.
St. Martin made a second appearance a development camp in the summer of 2025. Skating on a line with Sawchyn and newcomer Anton Lundmark, he was again one of the more dangerous players on the ice in the closing day scrimmage. He returned to participate in rookie camp, another prospect showcase (where he was ejected for boarded Tampa Bay’s Connor Kurth in the second game) and training camp in the fall.
In early October, St. Martin was sent down to the American League to begin his professional career with the Charlotte Checkers.
St. Martin made his AHL debut on October 18 and was held off the score sheet in a 4-1 victory over the Iowa Wild. He didn’t collect his first point in the league until his 13th game, when he assisted on a Sawchyn marker in a 6-2 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He scored his first AHL goal against the Springfield Thunderbirds six days later to extend a modest point streak to season-high three games. On December 30, he produced the first of two multi-point outings in his rookie campaign with a goal and an assist in another 6-2 win over the Penguins. He matched those numbers in a 9-0 rout of the Hartford Wolf Pack on February 16. Following that performance, St. Martin failed to collect a point in his next 12 games played. He finally broke his scoring slump with an assist in Rochester on April 1. He notched his fifth and final goal three days later in Toronto, and his last point of the season came on April 12 at Bojangles Coliseum, when he assisted on a Sandis Vilmanis goal in a one-sided decision over Hershey.
After garnering a lot of notice for his scoring antics at the past two development/rookie camps, St. Martin’s maiden voyage in the AHL was a rough one. He appeared in 46 games and put up just five goals and 13 points while enduring a pair of 12-game pointless streaks as he struggled to adjust to the professional ranks. He did not suit up in Charlotte’s disappointing first round playoff loss to Springfield.
Tough sledding in 2025-26 aside, there is still plenty to like about the St. Martin as a prospect. For starters, he’s a versatile player who is a fit with both skill players and grinders alike and already carries an NHL caliber shot in his arsenal. St. Martin’s got a scorer’s mentality and is blessed with a wicked release. His shot has some whip, deception and explodes off his blade. As evidenced by his challenging first pro season, he’s going to have to work harder to find ways to generate the time and space to get it off more often. The other NHL qualities that St. Martin possesses are acceleration, speed, anticipation, and motor. His first two steps are comparable with any skater on Florida’s current big-league roster. Like most young players, he needs to continue honing his 200-foot game and defense in his own end, but he forechecks and backchecks hard. At his ceiling, St. Martin still projects more as a bottom-six forward with a good shot than a middle or top-six point producer. Let’s see how he puts things together in his second season with the Checkers.