I Tried To Defend Alec Martinez
I tried. I really tried. I wanted to defend Alec Martinez but management saw it differently. It took some serious balls to break up a Stanley Cup winning blue line, but that’s exactly what the Golden Knights did. Noah Hanifin is on his way to Vegas and it has a trickle-down effect on the entire organization.
When I wrote the post about Hanifin not making sense for Vegas, it had everything to do with Martinez. We now know that Martinez was moved to IR just before the trade for Hanifin. Martinez is hurt again and it’s pretty clear that he’s just running out of gas.
It’s not going to be easy to replace Martinez. We can’t just overlook that. He led the NHL in blocked shots last year. He’s 4th this year and has missed a ton of time. Who is going to eat those pucks on the VGK blue line now? Can Hanifin fill that role while providing more high end offense?
At the end of the day, that’s what this move is all about. Vegas gets more speed on the blue line with way more offensive upside. The VGK blue line is obviously talented but they lack speed and it was becoming more apparent as Martinez was aging in dog years.
Long term? Yeah, this trade makes a ton of sense and the expectation is an extension is on the way. Hanifin slides right into that Martinez spot as the top line left shot D. Martinez is now sort of left for dead if he can contribute at all. He’s going to be the 7th D as a sort of last hurrah to get one more ring.
Maybe it’s something that needed to be done but I can’t help feel for Martinez. He’s been a great member of this team and his contributions over the years shouldn’t be forgotten.
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