The Chicago Blackhawks are swapping a pair of veteran defensemen on the team’s injured reserve. Before their contest tonight against the Edmonton Oilers, the Blackhawks organization announced they’ve activated Alec Martinez from the injured reserve and have placed Connor Murphy on the injured reserve, retroactive to December 31st, in a corresponding roster move.
Martinez will resume what can only be described as one of the more disappointing seasons of his professional career. He’s had a fair bit of injury concern since coming into the league at age 22 during the 2009-10 season and will now fail to reach 60 games played for the second consecutive year.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion was brought in as a veteran presence with championship pedigree for a young Blackhawks’ defensive core. As much of a mentor as he’s been to many of his younger peers in Chicago, Martinez has only managed to suit up in 15 games this year.
Despite starting the season on time, Martinez was placed on the team’s injured reserve after only four games at the beginning of the season due to a lingering injury from the preseason. He was reinstated nearly a month later in mid-November but returned to the IR due to a face injury against the Winnipeg Jets on December 7th.
Dissimilarly, Murphy is one defensive veteran having a positive year for the Blackhawks. Murphy also has recent injury concerns, having only played 46 games during the 2023-24 season. However, he has already scored one goal and recorded 13 points in 38 games.
He’s already eligible for activation and will as soon as he’s fully recovered from his groin injury. Murphy will look to achieve his career-high in scoring (19 points in 2019-20) once he returns to Chicago’s active roster.