The Los Angeles Kings crossed another arbitration worry off their list on Sunday, signing defenseman Alec Martinez to a two-year deal worth $2.2 million, according to TSN.
Martinez, 25, receives $100K more per year than fellow young blueliner Jake Muzzin, who received an arbitration-avoiding contract on Friday.
The Kings appear to have a crowded blueline going into 2013-14, even if Willie Mitchell stays on the long-term injured reserve.
Assuming Mitchell is out of the mix, the top four group is pretty much settled at Drew Doughty, Slava Voynov, Matt Greene and Robyn Regehr. Muzzin, Martinez, Keaton Ellerby and Jeff Schultz could very well battle for the bottom two spots many nights, although it wouldn’t be shocking if one or more of them end up on the trading block.
Martinez played in 27 regular season games and seven postseason contests for the Kings, going in and out of the lineup. He did average a career-high 16:01 minutes per night in the regular season, however.