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NHL Trade Deadline primer: Alec Martinez, Los Angeles Kings

By Adam GretzFeb 10, 2020, 4:47 PM EST
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(UPDATE: Martinez has been traded to the Golden Knights.)

With the NHL trade deadline getting close (February 24, 3 p.m. ET) the Pro Hockey Talk crew will be taking a closer look at some individual players that could be on the move. Today we focus on Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez.

Player: Alec Martinez
Current team: Los Angeles Kings
Position: Defense
Contract Situation: Signed through the end of the 2020-21 season at a salary cap hit of $4 million per season.

Why the Kings might trade him: Quite honestly it would make almost zero sense for the Kings to not trade him this season. He still has one more year remaining on his contract so there isn’t as much pressure to move him as, say, teammate Tyler Toffoli, but this is absolutely the time for the Kings to maximize their return for him. They are completely out of the Western Conference playoff race and are probably a couple of years away from being a playoff team again, and at that point Martinez won’t be a part of the team anyway. If he is, he will be a fraction of the player he is now. The player he is now is only a fraction of the player he was a couple of years ago. His trade value is only going to go down from here.

Teams that could/should be interested: Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators, Toronto Maple Leafs (maybe?), Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, Columbus Blue Jackets

What he provides: At his peak Martinez was a really good No. 2 or 3 defenseman that could provide some solid offense from the blue line (especially given the system he played in) and play a sound defensive game. Not a superstar by any means, but a good player that could be a key cog in a championship defense.

He is not quite that player anymore.

He is 32 years old, his offensive production has completely dried up and even his defensive game has regressed a bit the past two seasons.

Here is where Martinez ranks among the 178 defenders that have logged at least 500 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey this season in a number of defensive measures (via Natural Stat Trick):

Total shot attempts against per 60 minutes: 117th
Scoring chances against per 60 minutes: 118th
Expected goals against per 60 minutes: 104th

Those put him in the bottom half of the league.

Will a change of scenery help and a better supporting cast help?

The Carolina Hurricanes are in the market for a defenseman with Dougie Hamilton out for what could be most (if not all) of the remaining season. The Pittsburgh Penguins are currently without Brian Dumoulin and John Marino — their two best defensive players — and could use a short-term stop-gap. They do not have much flexibility beyond this season, however, given the long-term commitments they have on defense and their salary cap situation. The Maple Leafs need defense both short-term and long-term (Tyson Barrie and Jake Muzzin are both unrestricted free agents after this season) but I don’t know that Martinez is the solution to either problem. They acquired Muzzin from the Kings under almost identical circumstances at this time a year ago. Vegas and Florida have obvious needs on defense, but salary cap space is an issue for both and there would either need to be salary retained or salary moving back the other direction. Columbus could also be a sleeper destination if the injury to Seth Jones is serious enough.

Predicted Destination: Nashville makes sense for something along the lines of a second, future fourth-round pick, and maybe a fringe prospect. Even with all of their struggles this season the Predators are still very much alive in the playoff race and still control their own path. They also have more than enough salary cap space to add him and have five draft picks in the first three rounds of the 2020 draft. Their defense, once a major strength, has taken a hit this season with the departure of P.K. Subban and injury to Ryan Ellis. Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, and Ellis is still a very formidable top-three when are all healthy, and Dante Fabbro is an intriguing young player, but there is a pretty big gap in talent once you get beyond that group.

More NHL Trade Deadline:
• Trade Deadline primer: Chris Kreider
• Trade Deadline primer: Tyler Toffoli
• Trade Deadline Primer: Ilya Kovalchuk
• Teams that need to be active at trade deadline
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.

Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg rally Predators past Devils

By Scott CharlesJan 30, 2020, 10:55 PM EST

Matt Duchene scored in regulation and the shootout-deciding goal in the Nashville Predators’ 6-5 win against the New Jersey Devils.

Filip Forsberg scored twice and lit the lamp in the opening round of the skills competition as the Predators erased a third-period deficit for the second straight game. Mattias Ekholm and Nick Bonino also scored. Pekka Rinne added 27 saves.

Despite two goals from Pavel Zacha and two points from Nikita Gusev, the Devils picked up their fourth loss in the previous five games.

Predators ready for playoff push?

If Nashville has its eyes on the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, now is the right time to climb up the standings. After an impressive win against the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals Wednesday, the Predators collected another important road victory and are currently two points out of the wild card with two games in hand on both the Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes.

Even though the Devils are near the bottom of the NHL standings, the Predators should be proud of their effort which resulted in two points in the second leg of a back-to-back on the road.

“We are showing a lot of character right now,” Duchene said on the NBCSN telecast following the win. “We didn’t have any passengers tonight, everyone was going.”

If the Predators can string a couple of victories together, they can erase a disappointing first half in a hurry. Nashville will take on Vegas at Bridgestone Arena Saturday before embarking on a critical four-game road trip through Western Canada.

Can Zacha turn the corner?

Zacha became the first Devil since Mike Cammalleri to score a shorthanded goal and power-play tally in the same game per Devils’ statistician Craig Seiden. The 22-year-old forward showed off his silky hands when he converted a nifty deke to even the score at 1-1 early in the first period. He would later benefit from a deflection when he knotted the score again in the middle frame.

The Devils invested a lot of draft capital in Zacha when they selected him with the sixth overall pick of the 2015 draft. The Czech forward has been largely inconsistent throughout his brief NHL career and has failed to live up to his draft status thus far.

There is not a magic formula for player development in the NHL. Each individual improves his ability and adjusts to the demands of the sport at a different rate. Will Zacha’s performance Thursday be a building block toward his path to stardom? The Devils have a few of the right pieces with Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes and others, but Zacha’s maturation could be an X-factor in the Devils’ quest to turn things around.

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Scott Charles is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottMCharles.

Predators vs. Capitals livestream: How to watch Wednesday Night Hockey

By Sean LeahyJan 29, 2020, 6:30 PM EST

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with the Wednesday Night Hockey matchup between the Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

Washington entered its bye week on a 3-game win streak and came out of All-Star Weekend with a 4-2 victory at Montreal on Monday, without captain Alex Ovechkin, and continues to pace the NHL with 73 points through 50 games. Nashville also had its bye week lead directly into All-Star Weekend and the Central-Division bottom-dwellers lost on Monday against Toronto, 5-2, for its third loss in the last four games.

Despite pulling up the rear in their division, the Predators are only six points out of the Wild Card as they look to continue their playoff appearance streak – which is the longest active in the Western Conference. Nashville’s current playoff streak started in recently fired Peter Laviolette’s first season at the helm after the Predators did not renew Barry Trotz’s contract after the 2013-14 season.

After sitting out Monday due to a league-imposed one-game suspension for opting to skip All-Star Weekend (Ovechkin was voted by the fans as an All-Star captain), the 34-year-old will return as he looks to build upon his goal total, which is up to 34 this season (third in NHL).

Despite leading Nashville to the playoffs in each of his first five seasons, the sluggish start to the 2019-20 season was enough for the Predators to move on from Peter Laviolette, their second-ever head coach, and bring in John Hynes, whose head coaching experience consisted of leading the Devils for four-plus seasons (2015-16 to 2019-20) before being fired on December third after New Jersey lost 17 of its first 26 games.

[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 6:30 P.M. ET ON NBCSN]

WHAT: Nashville Predators at Washington Capitals
WHERE: Capital One Arena
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 29, 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Predators-Capitals stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

PREDATORS
Calle Jarnkrok – Ryan Johansen – Austin Watson
Filip Forsberg – Matt Duchene – Mikael Granlund
Rocco Grimaldi – Nick Bonino – Viktor Arvidsson
Colin Blackwell – Kyle Turris – Craig Smith

Roman Josi – Yannick Weber
Mattias Ekholm – Dante Fabbro
Dan Hamhuis – Jarred Tinordi

Starting goalie: Juuse Saros

CAPITALS
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana – Evgeny Kuznetsov – T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin – Lars Eller – Richard Panik
Brendan Leipsic – Nic Dowd – Garnet Hathaway

Michal Kempny – John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov – Nick Jensen
Jonas Siegenthaler – Radko Gudas

Starting goalie: Braden Holtby

Liam McHugh will host Wednesday’s coverage on NHL Live alongside analysts Anson Carter and Keith Jones and NHL insider Bob McKenzie. Mike Tirico will handle play-by-play duties for Caps-Preds on Wednesday Night Hockey alongside analyst Mike Milbury and ‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst Brian Boucher from Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.

WATCH LIVE: Predators visit Ducks on NBCSN

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By Sean LeahyJan 5, 2020, 9:50 PM EST

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Sunday’s matchup between the Nashville Predators and Anaheim Ducks. Coverage begins at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

Anaheim has lost three straight games and six of their last eight (2-5-1). They currently sit in last place in the Western Conference, 10 points outside the 2nd Wild Card. They saw their run of six-straight playoff appearances snapped last season, and are in jeopardy of missing out on the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1999-00 to 2001-02 (three straight seasons). In their last game at Arizona, the Ducks dropped a 2-1 lead, allowing three goals in the third period to lose 4-2.

For a second straight season, the Ducks are at the bottom of the scoring charts in the NHL. After finishing last in the league last season (2.39 goals/game), they are currently 30th in the league in scoring (2.49 goals/game – only DET is averaging fewer).

Speaking on Thursday, GM David Poile said that while he is not planning on firing head coach Peter Laviolette, there may be changes ahead if the Predators do not improve as the trade deadline approaches in February.

“I met with [Laviolette] this morning,” he said. “We had a long talk about lots of different situations going forward. I’m not contemplating making any coaching change at this time… We’ve really got some soul searching to do right now. I have to do some real thinking about where we’re going for the rest of this year… Right now, we’re not in the playoffs and I’m open for business, if you will… I guess the point I’m saying today is, sitting here outside of the playoffs, we have for the last several years been buyers at the trading deadline. If we don’t improve here shortly, we might be a seller for the first time in a number of years. I’m hoping that’s not the case, but as I said, I am open for business and I’m certainly going to be willing to listen to different teams’ thought processes on any of our players at this point.”

Ryan Ellis was placed on Injured Reserve on Friday after the defenseman took an elbow to the head from Dallas’ Corey Perry less than three minutes into the Winter Classic. Ellis needed help leaving the ice and did not return to the game, while Perry was handed a five-game suspension for elbowing. Ellis is tied for second on Nashville with 28 points and has averaged 23:24 TOI per game this season. Alexandre Carrier was called up from the AHL on Friday, with Jarred Tinordi, who was recalled from Milwaukee on Dec 26, expected to see some time in the lineup.

With his defensive partner Ryan Ellis sidelined, even more pressure will be on captain Roman Josi to produce. Josi, who signed an 8-year, $72.472M contract in October, leads the Predators in points (14G-27A, 41 points) and is averaging 25:36 TOI per game this season (fourth in NHL). Josi enters Saturday’s game against Los Angeles riding a career-long eight-game point streak (7G-8A, 15 points), which includes five multi-point games. Only one defenseman in franchise history has ever had a 9-game point streak (Shea Weber in 2010-11). Josi was selected to the All-Star Game this season, the 3rd selection of his career (second straight).

[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 10 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

WHAT: Nashville Predators at Anaheim Ducks
WHERE: Honda Center
WHEN: Sunday, Jan. 5, 10 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Predators-Ducks stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

PREDATORS
Filip Forsberg – Ryan Johansen – Viktor Arvidsson
Calle Jarnkrok – Kyle Turris – Mikael Granlund
Rocco Grimaldi – Nick Bonino – Craig Smith
Yakov Trenin – Colin Blackwell – Austin Watson

Roman Josi – Yannick Weber
Jarred Tinordi – Mattias Ekholm
Dan Hamhuis – Matt Irwin

Starting goalie: Juuse Saros

DUCKS
Adam Henrique – Ryan Getzlaf – Sam Carrick
Max Jones – Sam Steel – Ondrej Kase
Max Comtois – Isac Lundestrom – Jakob Silfverberg
Nicolas Deslauriers – Devin Shore – Carter Rowney

Hampus Lindholm – Josh Manson
Cam Fowler – Erik Gudbranson
Jacob Larsson – Korbinian Holzer

Starting goalie: John Gibson

Alex Faust and analyst Brian Hayward will call the action from Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

NHL on NBCSN: Time for Predators to make their move

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By Adam GretzJan 5, 2020, 1:48 PM EST

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Sunday’s matchup between the Nashville Predators and Anaheim Ducks. Coverage begins at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

This season has not gone as planned for the Nashville Predators.

They enter Sunday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks (10 p.m. ET, NBCSN) in 10th place in the Western Conference, four points out of a playoff spot, and in the middle an ugly stretch that has seen them lose three out of their previous four games.

It is all very unfamiliar territory for the Predators. After being one of the league’s best teams over the previous five years but always falling just short of climbing to the top of the NHL mountain, they tried to shake things up this season. They dealt from their depth on defense by jettisoning P.K. Subban‘s contract to create salary cap space to add another impact player at forward. Matt Duchene ended up being that player.

On paper, the roster looks like a contender. They still have a deep defense even without Subban thanks to the presence of Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, and Ryan Ellis. And while they may not have a superstar forward, but they are very deep and have seen their offense dramatically improve from where it was a year ago. They are sixth in the league in goals per game, and even though the power play is still not very good, it is not as historically inept as it was a year ago.

The two big issues that have held them back are a lack of a consistency, a struggling penalty kill, and a shocking decline in their goaltending.

The latter issue is no doubt a big driving factor in the first two.

Entering play on Sunday the duo of Pekka Rinne and Jusse Saraos has the second-worst all-situations save percentage in the NHL, ahead of only the Detroit Red Wings’ duo of Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier. In no situation are they worse than on the PK where they have stopped just 79 percent of the shots they have faced, a mark that is by far the worst in the NHL and well below the league average.

Goaltending is always going to be the one position that makes-or-breaks team’s season, and it’s not a stretch to suggest that if Rinne and Saros had spent the first half playing up to their normal levels that the Predators would be in a dramatically different in the standings. That’s also something that should give Predators fans optimism that this season isn’t yet lost. Even though they find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture at the halfway point and a few points back, they still have games in hand and have a lot of key ingredients in place to win. This is a team that is probably significantly better than its record indicates. If their goaltending can ever get itself back in track in the second half this is a team that may not go away quietly given the improved offense.

Now would be a pretty good time for that to start happening.

A four-point deficit in the playoff race may not seem like a huge gap to make up, but only about 20 percent of the teams facing such a deficit at this point in the season actually end up overcoming it. Points are hard to make up in the standings, and games in hand don’t necessarily equate to “wins” in hand. So it’s time for the Predators to try and build on Saturday’s big win in Los Angeles and try to stack some wins together to begin making up that ground, and the schedule certainly creates quite an opportunity for that.

Starting with Sunday’s game in Anaheim, seven of the Predators’ next 10 games for the rest of January are against teams that currently reside in the bottom half of the league standings.

If they are going to get back in the playoff picture and gives themselves a chance to make some noise, that process has to start now.

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.