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Now 36 years old, it's unfair to expect much offense out of Martinez -- his 32-point campaign in 53 games in 2020-21 was likely a mid-30s fluke. Martinez also carries a high injury risk thanks to his top talent: blocking shots, something he did a career-high 244 times in 2022-23. His ability to step in front of pucks at an elite rate will continue to make him a one-category darling in certain fantasy formats, but his days of widespread value are long gone. Consider him an ultra-defensive defenseman on draft day, one most fantasy managers can go without despite his significant on-ice value.
Martinez's 2021-22 campaign was derailed by a facial injury which limited him to just 28 games. His offensive production was down when in the lineup, as Martinez posted just three goals and eight points. Set to play this entire season at age 35, Martinez's fantasy value is going to be extremely limited if he averages just 0:29 per game with the man advantage as he did last year. It's likely going to take an injury to either Shea Theodore or Alex Pietrangelo for Martinez to have any value in standard fantasy formats. Look elsewhere on draft day.
Drafting Martinez in fantasy signals one thing -- a desire to control the blocked shots category. The tough-as-nails defenseman led the NHL with 168 blocks last year, while also chipping in a resurgent 32 points in just 53 contests, his highest output since 2016-17. The 34-year-old has a proven track record as a scorer, but he's also very much past his prime and playing on a team with better scoring options on the blue line. When it comes to crunch time, Martinez is a defense-first option who should still see solid residual offense thanks to the Golden Knights' quality forwards. In fantasy, he shouldn't be expected to produce more than 30 points while adding upwards of 200 blocked shots and a strong plus-minus rating over the course of a full season.
Martinez couldn't find much offense with the Kings last year, but a deadline-day trade to the Golden Knights helped the veteran rediscover his scoring touch. He had 16 points in 51 contests overall, but it's clear that Martinez will benefit from a strong supporting cast in Vegas. A reliable two-way defender, Martinez could still challenge for 15 to 20 points in 2020-21, but his biggest contribution will come in the elusive blocked shots category, where he's topped 100 for six straight years. Look for that to continue even in a shortened 56-game campaign, as Martinez is known to make life easier on the goalies behind him. A little power-play time on Vegas' second unit won't hurt, either.
Now 31 years old, Martinez is a reliable option on the blue line, but his days of being a potential scoring threat are likely behind him. Injuries limited him to just 60 games last season, and his 18 points represented his lowest total in six years despite the additional offensive opportunities that opened up for him after Jake Muzzin was traded late in the campaign. The Kings have some intriguing prospects coming, but most of them are forwards, which leaves Martinez in the unenviable position of holding down the fort while waiting for a cavalry which probably won't arrive for a while. He'll fill a top-four spot, but the team's rebuild won't be complete until he has some actual competition for it.
Martinez contributed 25 points last year, giving him some decent value in the right situation. However, being on the second defensive pairing for the Kings means that his chances to score aren't as abundant as Los Angeles' big-name blueliners. As such, he's not going to be consistently producing for your team most nights and should best be saved for daily leagues when he has a good matchup. Should something happen to Drew Doughty or Jake Muzzin, the 31-year-old Martinez would have value in most formats.
Martinez posted a career-high 39 points while logging the most minutes per game of his career (21:38), which also included 2:10 of power-play time. Like most Kings, he's a sound possession player (54.3 Corsi For percentage last year) and also provides a cross-category profile in the peripheral categories with an average of 134 shots, 125 blocked shots and 150 hits over the past two seasons. Martinez enters his age-30 season and projects to have another solid fantasy campaign in 2017-18. However, it's worth noting that his upside is capped because he's clearly behind both Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin on the depth chart.
It took him seven years, but Martinez finally played nearly a full NHL campaign last season, appearing in 78 games and accordingly setting a new career high with 31 points. True to form, though, he ended up missing the very end of the season and the playoffs to a shoulder injury that required surgery. However, the 29-year-old blueliner is expected to be ready for training camp, so he’s set to bring his combination of toughness and power-play ability to the Kings’ second defensive unit once again. The question, as always, will be whether Martinez can avoid injury; if he puts in another full season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him better last season’s stats. He’s already hit double-digit goals in two of the last three years, and Martinez hasn’t even had the chance to play a premier role yet.
The 28-year-old Martinez has had a full career of highlights, despite playing 50-plus games in a season only four times. After scoring the Stanley Cup-winning goal in 2013-14 and amasing 10 points in 26 games during the Kings' postseason run, Martinez was pressed into a bigger role in 2014-15 following the October arrest of Slava Voynov. Playing an average of 19:56 per game -- a four-minute bump in ice time from the season prior -- Martinez saw his assist total jump from 11 to 16, but a depressed shooting percentage resulted in him finishing with 22 points.There's still room for growth in Martinez's offensive game, though he'll make more of a mark as an all-around performer than a fantasy star due to his ability to block shots and kill penalties.
Martinez really picked up his game as the season wore on, picking up points in 14 of his last 17 games after recording just a lone assist in his first 29 games. And he carried that into the postseason where he netted the series' winners in both the Conference and Stanley Cup Finals. He's going to need to shoot more if he wants to crack double digits again as his 13.9 percent shooting percentage is awfully high for a blueliner. He should top his point total from last year if he can smooth out the dips, but look for his goal production to gravitate back to the norm along with his shooting percentage.
Martinez has struggled to bring his offensive talent to the NHL level and has been surpassed by both Jake Muzzin and Slava Voynov now. He's still a very valuable piece on the Kings' back end, but Muzzin and Voynov's progress may limit his ice time going forward.
Martinez was paired with Matt Greene for most of the season on the team's bottom pairing on the backend, chipping in a dozen points (six goals, six assists) in 51 games. He has the ability to man the point on the top power play if something were to happen to Drew Doughty, but for now will see limited time on the team's second unit. He could be a sneaky source of points in an expanded role, but figures to see most of his time on the team's third pair again this year.
Martinez was a regular presence on the Kings' blue line last year and responded with 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his rookie campaign. He won't get enough power-play time with Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson around to warrant much value in most formats.
Martinez spent the bulk of his season at the AHL, registering 30 points in 55 games for Manchester. The Kings are loaded with defensemen and Martinez doesn't really do anything to stand out among the crowd. He'll see some time with the Kings when injuries dictate again this year but doesn't bring much to the table from a fantasy perspective.
Martinez is a smooth skating defensemen who needs to add a little bulk to play in the NHL. He posted 23 points (8 G, 15 A) in 72 games in his first season as a pro in the AHL. He'll spend most of the season in the AHL but could see time in LA when injuries dictate.
