The longtime defenseman retired from professional hockey, the University of Minnesota confirmed Wednesday morning.
Martin explained his decision in an interview with The Athletic's Michael Russo, in which the veteran blue-liner said he wants to finish his college degree and start a family.
His agent, Ben Hankinson, tried to land the unrestricted free agent a job for this season, but Martin didn't want a tryout and wasn't interested in continuing his career in Europe, according to Russo.
He represented the United States multiple times on the international stage, earning a spot on the Olympic team on three occasions (in 2006, 2010, and 2014), but he saw no action in the 2006 Games and missed the 2010 event with a broken arm.
Rob Blake and Jim Rutherford had both seen enough.
The general managers completed the first meaningful trade of the 2018-19 NHL regular season Wednesday, swapping underachieving left wingers to jolt their respective clubs back to life.
“Our team is obviously not in a position that we are comfortable with in terms of how we are playing,” Blake said in a press release announcing the one-for-one swap.
"This could be the start of more changes,” Rutherford warned in a post-trade briefing with reporters. “We'll see how it goes.”
What this means for the Penguins
Pearson, 26, is the younger player in the deal. He’s probably a better finisher than Hagelin, and he's under contract for two more years at a digestible $3.75-million cap hit.
That's the good news.
The bad?
Pearson has struggled mightily through the opening stretch of the season, recording just a single assist - in the Oct. 5 home opener - in 17 games. For the first time in his six-year career, Pearson’s 5-on-5 shot metrics sit below 50 percent, and the Kings were outscored 10-1 with him on the ice over 198 even-strength minutes.
Noah Graham / Getty Images
Yet Rutherford seems to believe Pearson can reinvigorate the Penguins, who have lost six of their past seven games and face the conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
"He was able to play with their top guys (in L.A.),” Rutherford said, referring to Pearson’s past experience skating alongside Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter. “I believe that a change will be good for him. He will be a good fit for us.”
Pearson bagged 24 goals in 80 games at his peak in 2016-17. The 6-foot-1, 201-pounder contributed solid top-nine value in his other two seasons with the Kings, registering 36 and 40 points.
The talent is there and if he slides into Hagelin’s old spot on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist there will be no excuses. Over to you, Tanner.
What this means for the Kings
By acquiring Hagelin, the Kings - arguably the slowest team in the NHL - have gained one of the sport's premier speedsters. Hagelin is a dynamite penalty killer, too, which should help L.A.’s 21st-ranked unit.
Hagelin’s best NHL season was way back in 2011-12 when he posted 14 goals and 24 assists in 64 games as a rookie for the New York Rangers. Through 16 games this season, the 30-year-old has just one goal and two assists.
SEASON
TEAM(S)
GP
G
A
PTS
2011-12
NYR
64
14
24
38
2012-13
NYR
48
10
14
24
2013-14
NYR
72
17
16
33
2014-15
NYR
82
17
18
35
2015-16
ANA/PIT
80
14
25
39
2016-17
PIT
61
6
16
22
2017-18
PIT
81
10
21
31
2018-19
PIT
16
1
2
3
Given the direction the Kings' season is trending (see: down, way down) and Hagelin's contract situation (pending unrestricted free agent), is this a rent-to-sell situation? It's not a crazy thought.
The last-place Kings are spiraling right now; they've lost three straight, including a 5-1 defeat on home ice Tuesday against the Maple Leafs. The league’s second-oldest roster just got older and, although they could use a boost of some kind and Hagelin’s tantalizing wheels fit the short-term bill, a second deal around the Feb. 25 trade deadline may be the right long-term play.
Suitors surely haven’t forgotten about Hagelin’s performance in the 2016 playoffs, when he starred on the vaunted HBK Line with six goals and 10 assists in 24 postseason games.
(Side note: The Penguins retained $250,000 of Hagelin’s $4-million salary in the trade, eliminating any financial discrepancy between the two contracts.)
The main takeaway
In the grand scheme of things, the Hagelin-for-Pearson deal will not lose or win another Cup for either of these franchises. The players involved, even at their absolute best, are secondary contributors.
But this trade does serve a purpose. L.A. and Pittsburgh both need a kick in the rear end and found their targets in a pair of underperforming vets.
The Kings are in a state of flux under a new, interim head coach. Blake and Co. are navigating the waters between relevant and irrelevant, seemingly unsure of which side of the tide they will ultimately end up on.
Is this the beginning of the end for a core that won two Cups in three years at the start of the decade? Maybe. The departure of John Stevens last week certainly got the ball rolling. Is a full tear-down coming? Perhaps.
The Penguins, while on stronger footing overall, are also feeling the heat, albeit in a subtler fashion. Rutherford, who signed a three-year contract extension hours before announcing the trade, has voiced his displeasure with the current supporting cast around Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and other untouchables, according to The Athletic's Josh Yohe.
Is this a one-off move or a start of a furious shopping spree from Rutherford? It sounds like the former.
"I just think we're in a funk now," Rutherford said. "We're a fragile team. We're struggling. But for the most part, I still believe in this team."
The common thread: Winning is fleeting in professional sports and both GMs seem willing to do everything in their power to keep another championship within reach.
John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
Pittsburgh reportedly retained $250,000 of Hagelin's $3,666,000 salary in the deal, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
Pearson managed only one point in 17 contests with the Kings in 2018-19, while Hagelin mustered a goal and two assists in 16 games.
Hagelin was a member of the Penguins' Stanley Cup championship squads in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Pearson helped the Kings win the title in 2013-14.
After sweeping a four-game Canadian road trip in October, the Penguins have won only one of their last seven games. The Kings have lost three of their last four since firing head coach John Stevens and replacing him with interim bench boss Willie Desjardins.
The Pittsburgh Penguins inked general manager Jim Rutherford to a three-year contract extension Wednesday that will keep him with the team through the 2021-22 season.
The 69-year-old is in his 25th year as an NHL general manager and his fifth with the Penguins.
During his tenure with Pittsburgh, he's helped build the team into a perennial contender, with four 100-plus-point seasons and back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.
"We think Jim Rutherford is one of the best general managers in all of sports and, during his tenure in Pittsburgh, arguably the best GM in the NHL," Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle said in a statement. "His goal every year is to win the Stanley Cup and that kind of commitment to excellence is what drives us all."
Rutherford won his first Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. Stan Bowman of the Chicago Blackhawks is the only other GM to win three championships in the salary-cap era. Rutherford ranks eighth all time among general managers in both wins (850) and games managed (1,834).
The Edmonton Oilers entered Tuesday on a four-game losing streak, scoring just six goals during that stretch. In an attempt to spark the slumping offense, head coach Todd McLellan reunited Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the top line, and it paid off.
Edmonton's dynamic duo combined for six points in the Oilers' 6-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. McDavid had three helpers, while Draisaitl notched a goal and two assists - all of which came at even strength.
Drake Caggiula, the third member of Edmonton's revamped top line, shouldn't go without mention. He picked up a goal on three shots, added three hits, and was plus-3 in the contest.
McDavid and Draisaitl have had plenty of success playing together in the past - most notably during the 2016-17 season - but the Oilers split them up this season with the intention of rolling out a more balanced offense.
It's safe to assume the Oilers will line up the same way Saturday against the provincial rival Calgary Flames. From there, the recipe to keeping McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line is probably quite simple: win.
