The Vegas Golden Knights are sitting tight against a static cap heading into the 2021 season and are trying to shed some salary per multiple reports. The team is believed to be shopping Max Pacioretty, according to TSN’s Frank Seravalli. The 32-year-old forward carries a hefty contract, at $7 million per year through 2023, and has a modified No-Trade Clause, which might make him more difficult to move.
So the former Montreal Canadiens captain might not be the only one on the chopping block. Per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, winger Jonathan Marchessault, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and former LA Kings defender Alec Martinez are all players who may be on the move out of Sin City.
The Golden Knights acquired the now 33-year-old Martinez in February of this year in exchange for a second round pick at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft (60 overall, used to select winger Will Cuylle from the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires) and the St. Louis Blues’ second-round pick in 2021. Martinez played 10 games with the team before the regular season was cancelled in March, putting up two goals and six assists. He matched that performance over 20 games in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the team lost in the Western Conference Final to the Dallas Stars.
Drafted by the Kings in the fourth round (95 overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft, Martinez played 11 seasons with the Kings organization, winning two Stanley Cup with the team in 2012 and 2014. In 597 games with LA, he totaled 62 goals and 136 assists. He was perhaps best known for his two back-to-back series-winning goals during the 2014 Stanley Cup run, in the Western Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final. He was just the 17th player to ever score the Cup-winning goal in overtime.
He has one more year left on the six-year deal he signed with the Kings in December 2014, with a $4 million cap hit.