The worst is confirmed as the Blackhawks complete a two-player transaction
The Chicago Blackhawks will be without a veteran defenseman tonight against the San Jose Sharks.
Alec Martinez, who was signed during the offseason was placed on injured reserve today.
He spent the last five seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights and won another Stanley Cup with the team in 2023.
Martinez was brought in to make the Blackhawks more competitive and defensively sound, while the prospects mature in the AHL.
Now, Martinez is out with an undisclosed injury of which we should know more by Friday.
Martinez will be evaluated by the Chicago training staff and more should be known Friday. Martinez signed a one-year contract with the Blackhawks in the offseason after playing parts of the last five seasons with the Golden Knights. Martinez has an assist, four shots on goal and 15 blocked shots in four games this season. Nolan Allan is slated to take Martinez's place in the lineup alongside Connor Murphy on the third pairing.
Martinez helped the Blackhawks hold fast against the Calgary Flames this week lending an assist in the loss.
In his place, the Blackhawks have called up Isaak Phillips from the Rockford IceHogs.
Phillips played 33 games for the Blackhawks while the roster was suffering from a mass amount of injuries and had work to work through the attrition, by using call-ups from the AHL.
This season, we should see less of this ideally, as the prospects need more time and minutes to play, while the veterans keep the lineup competitive in this phase of the rebuild.
Phillips scored 6 points in those 33 games and would play the rest of the season in Rockford, scoring 14 points( 4 G, 10 A) with 29 games played. Phillips was a contributor during the IceHogs Calder Cup playoff run as well scoring 2 points in 4 games.
Maybe now, would be a good time for Phillips to prove he's ready for the big-time, and steal a roster spot from a veteran?
