But Martin, unlike every other Maple Leaf, has something of an inside track on Stamkos and the path the Markham native took to becoming a super elite NHL player.

“He was one of the best players I ever played with and I learned a lot watching him play,” Martin said of Stamkos, a former teammate with the Sarnia Sting.

Martin played with the Blenheim Blades, of the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League, when he took a shot as a walk-on with the OHL’s Sting in the fall of 2006.

Stamkos was already a blossoming superstar in Sarnia and the team captain.

Martin made the Sting, but sat for much of his first season while the team was swept by Kitchener in the first round of the playoffs.

Martin earned regular ice time in his second season, and worked his way onto a line with Stamkos in the second half.

The two became quick friends, and often hung out with Mark Katic, a defenceman with the Sting who, like Martin, would become a New York Islanders draft pick.

Ultimately, Martin went on to take over the Sting’s captaincy after Stamkos left for the NHL, and they remained friends.

“We all hung out together, you know, bus rides and all the things 17-year-old kids do,” Martin said. “But I got a chance to see how he grew into the player and the person he is now. Even back then, just watching him, you could see he was on his way to being something special.”

Stamkos quickly gained respect for Martin, a “kid,” he said, who “came out of nowhere” to play for the Sting.

“It was pretty funny, I think he was playing Junior C, but he got an invite to camp, and I remember him just going all out and hitting everything in sight,” Stamkos said after the Lightning worked out Monday to prepare for the Leafs.

“He didn’t play much in his first year, but he willed his way onto the Sting. Then the following year, you’d see him, he was the first guy in the gym, first guy on the ice, he was one of those kids you just saw getting better and better every year. Then I was in the NHL and he was the captain of the team. We are good friends, and I think if you asked anyone that first year if he’d go onto a good career in the NHL, no one might have believed it, but he believed it.”

NO DISTRACTIONS: Stamkos was in a different frame of mind Monday than last season, when the pending free agent was constantly linked to the rebuilding Leafs before he signed with Tampa in the summer.

“I get what you’re saying,” Stamkos said, as he brings his Lightning into Toronto as one of the early favourites to win the Stanley Cup.

“But this year, no distractions, you have a clear mind, and as a player, sometimes you take that for granted. Last year, that was tough enough, but you go through those things in life, and there’s time to reflect, but you make what you believe is the best decision for you.”

“I haven’t had any bad interaction with anyone (in Toronto),” Stamkos added. “Social media can say other things, but I have only great experiences in this city. My family’s here, I just had a great experience at the World Cup. There was never been a doubt in my mind since I made the decision to stay. You do well with the questions and answers (with other teams), but I made the decision to stay with the team that drafted me, and brought me up as an 18-year-old kid . . . no regrets.”