Vegas Golden Knights’ Alec Martinez to miss Wednesday’s game with lower-body injury

The Vegas Golden Knights have announced that defenseman Alec Martinez will miss Wednesday’s game against the Dallas Stars due to a lower-body injury.

It’s unclear as to what caused the injury, as Martinez, 36, played all of Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The fact that the announcement has come this late before the start of the game possibly indicates that it was either an injury that occurred before the game, or one that was a gametime decision. If it’s the latter, it would at least indicate that they’re approaching the injury on a day-to-day basis.

Martinez has been somewhat productive to start the season, the most surprising being the three goals he already has, which equals his totals from three of his last four seasons, along with an assist for four points in 14 games. That said, Martinez has always been one of the better finishers among defensemen in the league since joining the Golden Knights in 2020, with a 8.06% 5v5 shooting percentage that ranks second among defensemen in that span after Cale Makar.

Martinez was a former fourth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, and spent parts of 11 seasons with the Kings before he was dealt to the Golden Knights at the 2020 trade deadline for two second round picks. He’s won three Stanley Cups in his career, two with the Kings in 2012 & 2014 and one with Vegas in 2023.

Martinez is currently in the final year of a three-year contract with a $5.25 million cap hit, and will be an unrestricted free agent in the 2024 offseason.

Ben Hutton will substitute into the lineup for Martinez, while Nicholas Hague will take Martinez’s spot in the top four alongside Alex Pietrangelo, a pairing that has held their opposition to an even scoring of 2-2 and have a 53.77% 5v5 expected goal share in 40:30 of ice time together this season.

The Golden Knights had lost back-to-back games entering Wednesday’s game against the Stars, and have a 13-4-2 record that has them first in the Pacific Division and second in the NHL.