1. Jordan Martinook
Jordan Martinook was brought over from the Arizona Coyotes because of his ability to be superb on the penalty kill. He has a knack for getting his stick into passing lanes disrupting other teams’ chances at scoring a power play goal. He also has a fearlessness to block opponents’ shots as well as going into the dirty areas to clear puck out of the zone in order to kill off time.
Martinook has had a career year in terms of his offensive production. He surpassed his previous career high in goals, which was 11 and he now sits with 15 goals this season. This season he also achieved his first career hat trick in a game against the Florida Panthers back in November. Also, for the first time in his career Martinook has a positive plus-minus, which is plus-2.
Martinook always has played a physical brand of hockey. He fights for loose pucks, gets into the dirty areas to score, and is hard on opponents’ defenseman on the forecheck. When on the forecheck, Martinook helps the Hurricanes get chances by forcing turnovers by getting into board battles, as well as forcing the opposition to regroup due to a hard hit. He leads the Hurricanes with 187 hits.
Finesse 👌 pic.twitter.com/2FBCU6zVZh
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 20, 2019
He is the ultimate team player. When he was on a line with Andrei Svechnikov, he would be there to protect him when someone went after them. He wouldn’t tolerate someone going after the highly touted rookie. Even if it isn’t Svechnikov. Martinook will always come to the aid of his teammates in the midst of a skirmish.