Season Preview: Jason Demers & Alec Martinez

Alec Martinez was born in 1987.

Jason Demers was born in 1988.

Alec Martinez is 6'1", 215 lbs.

Jason Demers is 6'1", 195 lbs.

Alec Martinez was passed over in the draft twice before being selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the 4th round.

Jason Demers was passed over in the draft once before being selected by the San Jose Sharks in the 7th round.

Alec Martinez played 60 games in the NHL last year, averaging about .27 points a game on the Kings' 3rd pairing.

Jason Demers played 75 games in the NHL last year, averaging about .29 points a game while splitting time between the Sharks' 2nd and 3rd pairing.

Alec Martinez played the 2nd easiest minutes of any King defenseman last season and excelled in that role.

Jason Demers played the 4th easiest minutes of an Shark defenseman last season and excelled in that role.

One of their Hockey's Future profiles describes him like this:

[Player] combines long, very fluid strides with terrific speed. [Player]'s tremendous skating ability allows him to skate and stay with many speedy opposing players as well as jump up into plays. He is very solid positionally and does an excellent job of staying with his assignment. [Player] has great offensive potential and wonderful puck skills. While he will aggressively challenge opposing forwards, [Player] is not overly physical. His most glaring weakness is his strength.

While the other's describes him like this:

[Player] is an offensive defenseman who, while great at shooting and distributing the puck, still needs to learn the finer points of playing in his own zone. He shouldn't be considered a defensive liability, but he is prone to making the occasional error in his own end and takes a lot of risks offensively.

He is particularly effective on the powerplay where he can distribute and shoot the puck effectively from the point.

Alec Martinez will likely be on the Kings' 3rd pairing with gritty defensive defenseman Matt Greene. He will also be on the 2nd power play unit.

Jason Demers will likely be on the Sharks' 3rd pairing with gritty defensive defenseman Colin White. He will also be on the 2nd power play unit.

Many Kings fans would tell you that Alec Martinez is a nice young player but that they'd be happy to trade him to make room for Viatcheslav Voynov, Thomas Hickey or Jake Muzzin.

Many Sharks fans would tell that Jason Demers is a valuable member of the team and that they look forward to seeing him in a Sharks uniform for years to come.

From this I can only conclude that Kings fans are racist.

(Martinez is the first Hockey's Future profile, Demers is the 2nd.)