LA trades Cup-winning goal scorer to Vegas
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings traded Stanley Cup-winning goal scorer Alec Martinez to the Vegas Golden Knights for two second-round draft picks on Wednesday.
The Kings got the Knights’ secondround pick in 2020 and St. Louis’ second-round choice in 2021 for Martinez, the defenseman who scored the iconic double-overtime goal that won Los Angeles’ second Stanley Cup six years ago.
The 32-year-old Martinez has spent his entire NHL career with the Kings, who drafted him in 2007. He cracked Los Angeles’ lineup for good in late 2010 and has spent the ensuing decade as a steady, productive two-way defenseman.
Although he has never scored more than 11 goals in a regular season, Martinez earned a permanent place in franchise lore by scoring the series-winning overtime goals in both the Western Conference finals and the Stanley Cup Final in 2014.
His famous winning shot to beat the Blackhawks in the conference finals deflected in off the chest of Chicago’s Nick Leddy, ending a superb sevengame series at United Center. Chicago and Los Angeles combined to win all four Stanley Cup titles from 2012-15, splitting two straight excellent conference finals along the way.
Martinez then scored the doubleovertime winner in Game 5 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers, converting a rebound of Tyler Toffoli’s shot off Henrik Lundqvist at Staples Center. Martinez’s goal and his ecstatic, glove-flinging celebration – dubbed “Jazz Hands” by Kings fans – are arguably the most memorable moment in Kings history.
Martinez also played on the Kings’ first championship team in 2012. He has 62 goals and 136 assists in 597 career NHL games, and he has six goals and 10 assists in 64 career postseason games.
“Alec has been an important part of the organization for a number of years and was a key member of our Stanley Cup teams,” Kings general manager Rob Blake said in a statement. “We thank Marty for everything he’s done for our organization, our fans and our community.”
Martinez has one goal and seven assists in 41 games with the Kings this season while missing time with injuries, including a serious cut on his right wrist from an opponent’s skate.
Los Angeles kept its championship core largely in place over the past halfdecade in an attempt to prolong the best period in the Second Six franchise’s mostly mediocre history. But the lastplace Kings finally are dismantling part of that structure as they prepare to miss the playoffs in two straight seasons for the first time since 2009.
Los Angeles has the Western Conference’s worst record at 21-34-5 under first-year coach Todd McLellan, and only Detroit has fewer points in the overall NHL standings.