Golden Knights Acquire Alec Martinez in Trade With Kings

The NHL Trade Deadline takes place on Monday, Feb. 24, but that's not preventing teams from making a plethora of moves ahead of time.

On Wednesday, the Vegas Golden Knights acquired defenseman Alec Martinez from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for two second-round draft picks (2020 and 2021).

A Martinez trade was bound to happen, as he was held out of Tuesday night's game against the Winnipeg Jets for "precautionary reasons." In this time of year, that usually means a player is about to be moved to another club.

The Kings have sat dead last in the Western Conference standings for the majority of the 2019-20 season, so a rebuild was bound to happen. Los Angeles already sent forward Kyle Clifford and goalie Jack Campbell to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and winger Tyler Toffoli to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday.

Martinez was a fourth round pick by the Kings in the 2007 draft, and he had long-term success with the team. His most notable accomplishment was his Game 5 Stanley Cup-winning overtime goal against the New York Rangers in 2014.

In his 11 years with Los Angeles, Martinez accumulated 62 goals and 136 assists.

Now, he joins a Golden Knights team looking to gain an edge against the Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division standings, with the overall goal being to help give the Sin City it's first-ever Stanley Cup title.