Should Alec Martinez Retire?
The Vegas Golden Knights are Stanley Cup champions and you can never take the memories from this season away. It’s the best blue line in the league and the shot blocking menaces are a big identity of the team. However, like any title team has to do every offseason, there are big decisions to make. Most notably being bringing back Ivan Barbashev. If Vegas wants to really improve their chances of repeating, it may have to include dumping Alec Martinez.
That’s probably a scenario the VGK would like to avoid but they may not have a choice. They have limited cap space heading into the offseason and need left wing help bad. That’s not even including the hurdles they have to jump through to get goalie figured out.
For starters, does Martinez even want to keep playing? Martinez, 36 this Summer, battled major injuries to even return for this Cup run. After Vegas won the Cup, you heard Martinez talk about how challenging it was coming back and that he probably would have called it quits had he not been playing for this team.
"Last year was the hardest year of my career, possibly my life."
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 14, 2023
Alec Martinez reflects on the battles he faced on his way to this Stanley Cup, how hockey is poetic, and his support system including his wife. pic.twitter.com/clCiUlHURP
Martinez is now a three-time Stanley Cup champion with absolutely nothing left to prove. Why not go out on top? In a perfect world, you run things back but you also have to constantly look for ways to improve. In 2021, I argued that Martinez had to be brought back and he was. Martinez was vital and led the league in shot blocks. This time? I’m not sure that’s the case with Martinez carrying an AAV of $5.25 million. Is that a cap hit the VGK can stomach this time around?
If you’re Martinez, why not ride off into the sunset and retire? Sit back and get paid the $5.25 million while sitting on LTIR. If given a choice where Vegas has to move on, isn’t that the better alternative rather than being a cap casualty? Going out on top seems like the best alternative. If Martinez is being honest with himself, he’s running on fumes at this point. Martinez posted 14 points in 77 games which is a far cry from the guy he really is.
Does Martinez even want to keep playing? This feels like the X-Factor more people should really be talking about when it comes to the offseason for Vegas. Going out on top seems like the best thing to do but maybe Martinez feels like he has more to give. Regardless, it’s a conversation I’m sure this front office is having.
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