Vegas Golden Knights set to join Trade frenzy

We are less than a week away from the NHL Trade Deadline but we are already being treated to a bevy of deals. And it looks likely that the Vegas Golden Knights are about to join the party…

According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Vegas Golden Knights are finalizing a trade with the LA Kings for veteran defenseman Alec Martinez.

Martinez won’t be playing for the Kings against the Winnipeg Jets tonight as a precaution, although McKenzie reports that any deal won’t be signed, sealed and delivered until potentially Wednesday.

However, it sounds like this trade will happen and the asking price is thought to be two second-round picks, assets the Knights have plenty of given that they own two second-round picks in the 2020 NHL Entry draft and three in the 2021 Draft.

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This report caps off what has been a manic day in the NHL for trades, with teams really starting to throw their chips into the middle of the table ahead of the deadline on Feb. 24.

Moments after it was reported by Frank Seravalli of TSN that the Knights were one of many teams in on Brenden Dillon, the San Jose Sharks defenseman was traded to the Washington Capitals for a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and a conditional third-round selection in the 2021 Draft.

The Winnipeg Jets then acquired defenseman Dylan DeMelo from the Ottawa Senators for a third-round pick in 2020, before the Montreal Canadiens flipped blueliner Marco Scandella to the St. Louis Blues for a second-round pick in 2020 and a conditional fourth-round selection in 2021.

The New York Rangers also pulled the trigger on a one-for-one trade earlier in the day, sending defenseman Joey Keane to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Julien Gauthier.

And now the Vegas Golden Knights are getting in on all the action, with Alec Martinez seemingly on his way to Sin City.

We mentioned in a piece last week that Martinez would be a perfect fit for the Golden Knights, while you can debate whether two second-round picks is a fair price or not.

But Vegas needed to upgrade their blueline and, while we will dissect this a lot more once the deal is official, Martinez will certainly bring a lot of dependability to that defense.

For starters, the 32-year-old is a veteran of 597 career NHL regular season games, recording 62 goals and 136 goals for 198 assists.

Martinez has also skated in 64 postseason games, all with the Kings, and he is best known for scoring the game-winning goal in Game 5 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers that clinched the championship for the Kings.

As a Rangers fan, that pains me to say, by the way.

Martinez has endured a down year this season with eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 41 games, although it is worth remembering that the Kings are now in the process of tearing their team down and rebuilding.

It is also important to keep in mind that the Golden Knights will be acquiring a defenseman with term, given that Martinez carries a cap hit of $4,000,000 both this year and in 2020-21.

He will beef up the Vegas blueline while bringing that knowhow of winning championships to the table, and that is an invaluable ingredient.

Again, we will dive into this a lot more once the trade is official, but the Golden Knights needed to make a move and trading for Alec Martinez is certainly a statement.

The flip side of that is that the Vegas Golden Knights will need to move one or two contracts off the books and, with secondary scoring also a dire need, expect there to be plenty more bombs to digest between now and Monday as the NHL explodes with Trade Deadline madness.