CHICAGO -- Alec Martinez is coming into a different situation.
The defenseman, who signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on July 1, has been on some very successful teams in his career. He won the Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014 and with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023.
Now he’s joining the Blackhawks, who are still very much in the middle of a rebuild. And he’s embracing that.
“First and foremost, with the things that Kyle (Davidson, Blackhawks general manager) did just a few days ago and the roster, what he’s added, I’m pretty excited,” Martinez said on Wednesday. “You see some of the names and guys and pedigree, the hockey world’s fairly small, so the quality of human being, caliber, in that way, I’m pretty excited. I think we’re going to be pretty good, too.”
The Blackhawks signed several veterans on July 1, including Martinez, defenseman TJ Brodie and forwards Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, Craig Smith and Pat Maroon. They want to improve on last season’s 23-53-6 record (eighth in the Central Division).
They also want veterans to mentor their younger players, and Martinez is ready to do so, especially with defensemen like Kevin Korchinski and Alex Vlasic.
“I’ve been fortunate in my career to learn from some special players and people, and I’d be the first to tell you I don’t know everything by any means,” Martinez said. “But I have some experience of playing in big-time games at the United Center, and playing in the playoffs and I’d like to think to a certain extent I know what it takes to win.”
Martinez, who will turn 37 on July 26, has 277 points (83 goals, 194 assists) in 818 NHL games with the Kings and Golden Knights. He also has 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists) in 131 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
He had 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 55 games last season with Vegas, when he averaged 19:03 of ice time, fifth on the Golden Knights behind defensemen Alex Pietrangelo (23:34), Noah Hanifin (23:07), Shea Theodore (22:05) and Brayden McNabb (19:21).
Martinez said some of his mentors included former Kings defensemen Rob Scuderi, Matt Greene, Roby Regehr and former Kings forwards Jarret Stoll and Dustin Brown.
“It was a special group those years in L.A., and you don’t have a special and successful group unless you have good people,” he said. “As a young guy, I was fortunate to have those guys and see them day in and day out and see how they conducted themselves on and off the ice. And how to be a pro. That’s a real thing.
“There’s a learning curve. There are certain ways to handle certain situations and whenever you have someone showing you how to act and how to confront and overcome certain challenges and problems, if you have someone to watch that can do that, it’ll only play dividends. I was fortunate that a lot of people did that for me.”
Martinez was encouraged not just talking to Davidson, but also Nick Foligno, who he knows from playing against the forward for many seasons, and defenseman Connor Murphy, his former roommate at the IIHF World Championship in 2018.
It’s a different landscape for Martinez but he’s ready for the opportunity.
“I had some really good meetings with Kyle and talked to a few of the guys. From the get-go of when we started talking, I felt this was a place I would want to be,” he said. “It’s definitely a situation I was intrigued by and grew into a situation I wanted to be a part of. I’m excited to be a part of it, too.”
