Young St Kilda key forward Paddy McCartin has become the latest player to commit his future to the club, signing a two-year contract extension that will tie him to the Saints until at least the end of 2018.

The prodigious talent played six games in his debut season, with St Kilda coach Alan Richardson preferring to take a more patient approach and allow McCartin to develop his game at Sandringham in the VFL.

In limited exposure at AFL level, McCartin showed glimpses of class, poise and brute talent, particularly against Melbourne late in the season where he plucked nine marks to demonstrate his ability on the lead and in the contest.

The signature from the former No. 1 draft pick joins the rest of the 2014 draft class in re-signing with St Kilda, including Hugh Goddard who the Saints hope will build a long-term partnership with McCartin - as a bookend at the other end of the ground.

“The last two drafts have been really important for building towards our future. So with the re-signing of Paddy, we now have secured all of our picks from those drafts which is a great sign that they are committed in the direction we are heading,” St Kilda’s Chief Operating Officer Ameet Bains told saints.com.au.

“With Paddy’s signature, we now have both our key position players from the 2014 draft re-commit their future’s to our club. As the two key planks in our long-term view, their commitment to our pursuit of a second premiership is extremely pleasing.”

On the back of McCartin’s re-commitment to St Kilda, Richardson explained how important he is to the club’s future, particularly with Nick Riewoldt coming towards the end of his decorated career, and also indicative of the playing groups belief the club is on the right path.

“Paddy’s re-signing is firstly an important part of our list strategy going forward, but secondly it is a really good indication that he believes in our football program and the direction that we are heading in,” Richardson said.

“We saw in short bursts his ability at AFL level last year and we think we will see more of that this year as he continues to develop his craft.

“Paddy has completed much more of the pre-season this year, as all second-year players have, and he has come on in leaps and bounds from a conditioning point of view which will allow him to cover more ground this season and be highly beneficial for his game.”