The Los Angeles Kings continue to clean house, as they’ve traded defenseman AlecMartinez to the Vegas Golden Knights for two second-round picks.
Los Angeles Kings fans have been rooting for their team to clean house for quite some time. It’s finally happening. Earlier this week, the Kings shipped out Tyler Toffoli to the Vancouver Canucks. On Wednesday, the purge continued, as they sent long-time defenseman Alec Martinez to the Vegas Golden Knights for two second-round picks.
The Kings’ glory days are over. With Toffoli and Martinez gone, there are only six players remaining from the 2014 Stanley Cup Champions – Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick, Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, and Trevor Lewis. There’s a decent chance both Lewis and Carter could be traded by Monday’s deadline. Lewis will likely be gone after this season, as he’s an unrestricted free agent.
Ever since the Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2014, they haven’t been able to have the same level of success. They’ve had just two postseason appearances, winning one playoff game combined between those two postseasons. As painful as it may be, the Kings can’t live in the past. That’s why trading Martinez was such a great idea.
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First of all, let’s not forget everything Martinez has done for the Kings. Martinez deserves all the credit in the world for having such a solid NHL career. He was passed over in the 2005 draft, and the 2006 one as well.
The Kings took a chance on the 20-year-old overage defenseman in the second round of the 2007 draft. Martinez made his NHL debut during the 2009-10 season and became a permanent fixture in the Kings lineup in the 2010-11 season.
For years, Martinez was a very good defensive defenseman who could play tough minutes and put up just barely enough offense to avoid being a liability. He was an incredibly important person in the locker room too.
His 2014 Stanley Cup-winning goal is perhaps the greatest moment in franchise history other than the Wayne Gretzky trade, which put the Kings on the map.
But as I said earlier, the days of living in the past are over for the Kings. Martinez is no longer the stalwart he used to be. Since that infamous goal in 2014, the Kings allowed more shot attempts, unblocked shot attempts, shots on goal, and scoring chances with Martinez on the ice. In four of his past six seasons, the Kings also allowed more goals against with him on the ice.
His offense peaked in 2016-17, when he put up a career-high of 39 points. Since then, Martinez’s point totals have fallen to 25, 18, and 8, respectively. This season, in 41 games, he has zero primary assists. Yes, you read that right.
Since the start of last season, Martinez has allowed the fourth-most 5v5 goals against per hour of any Kings defenseman (min. 500 minutes). The Kings managed to get two second-round picks for him, which is a minor miracle. Trading Martinez to a division rival is painful, but who cares where your picks are coming from as long as they’re coming from somewhere?
Should they have targeted a defensive prospect from the Golden Knights? Honestly, I would have, especially since the Kings need young defensemen. But the Kings have a plan to load up on draft picks, so getting two second-round picks is a great return.
The 2020 NHL Draft is going to be a deep one. With 11 picks, the Kings are in excellent shape. Oh, and the Kings have nine in the 2021 NHL Draft as well. This gives them a ton of options. If there’s someone they really like, they have the assets necessary to move up. Also, think of picks as lottery tickets. The Kings have 20 in the next two drafts, which gives them a much better chance of hitting the jackpot than other teams.
Even before this season, the Kings already had one of the best prospect pools in the NHL thanks to an outstanding 2019 draft. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic recently ranked their farm system as the best in the NHL and I agree with him.
It has been a while since the Kings have had so many prospects worth getting excited about. General Manager Rob Blake shouldn’t be immune from criticism, as he should have never signed Ilya Kovalchuk in the first place and he probably waited a little bit too long to trade Jack Campbell. But he’s done a fantastic job at replenishing the Kings’ prospect system and helping the Kings look forward to the future instead of living in the past.