While the Hurricanes might not be shopping forward Martin Necas, it doesn’t appear as if they’re hanging up the phone either when teams call about him. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that the team has made it known that they’re willing to listen on the 25-year-old. Necas had a breakout year last season with 71 points in 82 games and has followed that up with 42 points in 53 games so far this season.
While that’s not the type of player that they should even be listening to offers on while they’re sitting comfortably in a playoff spot, it’s worth noting that Necas will be a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration eligibility. He’ll be owed a $3.5MM qualifying offer and could push for close to double that much; if they’ve determined they can’t afford him for next season, then they could decide that moving him now would yield the most value. Of course, if they did so, they’d also have a big hole to fill in their top six.
More from Carolina:
- The Hurricanes have re-assigned forward Jamieson Rees from AHL Springfield to Charlotte, per a team release from the Checkers. Carolina doesn’t have its own affiliate this season and Rees had been quite limited with Springfield where he had just three assists in 30 games after putting up 42 points in 65 games last season. The 23-year-old is in the final season of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent without arbitration rights this summer.
- Prospect defenseman Cade Webber is in the final season of his college career and has to sign with Carolina by August 15th or become an unrestricted free agent. According to Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link), the 23-year-old is leaning toward the latter option of the two. The 6’7 Webber was a fourth-round pick by the Hurricanes back in 2019 (99th overall) and while his offensive game is quite limited) he has just one goal in his four seasons with Boston University, he’s leading Division I in blocks with 107 and is a true stay-at-home shutdown type of defender.