Nobody can question Alec Martinez‘s toughness. According to reports, the former LA Kings defenseman and 2014 Stanley Cup Finals hero played through a broken foot in the postseason.
“I obviously couldn’t talk about it much,” Martinez said via ESPN. “I touched on our medical staff. They did an incredible job taking care of me day in and day out.
“In terms of my daily routine, it was a lot of rest and staying off it, and just managing the swelling and all that,” he added. “I couldn’t have done it without our medical staff. I sound like a broken record, but they were pretty incredible. I’m very thankful to them to be able to manage something and put me in a position where I could go compete with the guys playing the best time of the year.”
I can’t even imagine playing through that kind of pain, and Martinez certainly didn’t show any signs that he was nursing an injury. If anything, Mark Stone should have been questioned for potentially being injured, given his disappearing act in the latter stages against the Montreal Canadiens.
The almost 34-year-old played big minutes for the Golden Knights, averaging 22:32 TOI, scoring four goals and two assists in 19 games.
He’ll be a coveted free agent this offseason. Evolving Hockey projects his next (and potentially final?) contract to be a four-year deal at a $5.8M AAV. That would seem like a steep price, but perhaps he would take a hometown discount to return to Los Angeles? We’ll see.