Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Reports: Golden Knights close to acquiring Kings defenseman Alec Martinez

Alec Martinez Hockey

Frank Franklin II / AP

Los Angeles Kings’ Alec Martinez (27) during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, in New York.

The Golden Knights may have made their trade deadline move to add to the blue line.

According to multiple reports, the Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings are close to a trade that would send defenseman Alec Martinez to Vegas in exchange for two second-round picks. The trade was first reported by TSN’s Bob McKenzie today.

Martinez, 32, is under contract for this season and next at a cap hit of $4 million. He shoots left-handed but has often played the right side in Los Angeles, where he had eight points in 41 games.

Martinez is best known for scoring the Stanley Cup-winning goal in double overtime of Game 5 in 2014.

As a defenseman with term, Martinez fits what the Golden Knights are looking for. They don’t have to worry about a new contract for him this summer, when defensemen Nick Holden, Jon Merrill and Deryk Engelland are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents.

The Golden Knights were known to be looking for help at defenseman in a hot market. Martinez is the fourth defenseman reportedly traded today.

But it’s fair to question whether this was the right defenseman to acquire.

According to Evolving Wild’s model, Martinez has been worth 3.9 goals above replacement this year, which would slide him between Holden (4.4) and Merrill (3.5) on the Vegas depth chart. He hasn’t moved the needle on a struggling Kings team, with a 51.3% Corsi share that is below the relative strength of his Los Angeles teammates.

The Golden Knights would either need to make another move to clear salary or have the Kings retain some of Martinez’s salary. The Kings can retain up to 50%, which would help make a move work this season with the Golden Knights’ cap crunch as well as reduce his cap number for next season.

Vegas has second-round picks to spare, with five over the next two drafts. It is not known which second-rounders will be included.

The deal is not official and may not be until Wednesday. Martinez will be held out of the Kings’ game tonight for “precautionary reasons,” according to the team.