With the excitement of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs and some notable events that have already taken place, one important news item buried over the last week is that the Carolina Hurricanes do not intend on signing forward Martin Necas to an extension this summer, and could look to move him in the offseason. Necas will become a restricted free agent on July 1st after his two-year, $6MM bridge deal expires.
Over the last four years, Necas has shown flashes of being a consistent scorer at the NHL level and other flashes of being a complimentary piece at best. Because of this, the General Manager Don Waddell and the Hurricanes organization do not seem adamant about meeting Necas’ demands, who likely has his eyes on a long-term deal. Since Necas is still only 25 years old, an eight-year contract extension would put him between 33 and 34 upon expiration, meaning this may be his only chance at signing a max contract.
Playing up and down Carolina’s lineup, Necas certainly looks more comfortable on the wing but has been known to line up down the middle on occasion. In 362 games spent with the Hurricanes, Necas has scored 97 goals and 243 points while also putting up 11 goals and 30 points over 59 postseason games, as well.
Not only has Necas shown an ability to put together strong seasons, but playing in Carolina’s system has allowed his possession numbers to flourish, posting a 63.6 and a 61.8 CorsiFor% in the last two years alone. In the right situation, Necas could prove to be a wise investment in the near and long term.
Since Necas lies somewhere between a top-line winger and a complimentary piece, and assuming the Hurricanes allow him to discuss an extension with the acquiring team, Necas would be wise to look for an already established team. The two that come to mind, in terms of need and style of play, would be the Colorado Avalanche and the Florida Panthers.
Even before the loss of winger Valeri Nichushkin for at least the next six months, the Avalanche have had a problem at the winger position since the loss of Gabriel Landeskog after the 2022 Stanley Cup run. With Landeskog once again expected to start the season on LTIR, and Nichushkin’s contract in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program, Colorado should have more than enough financial flexibility to sign Necas. With Zach Parise confirmed to have played his last game at the NHL level last week, and Jonathan Drouin potentially pricing himself out of Denver with a solid year, Necas could be a solid fit to move fluidly in the top two lines of the Avalanche forward core.
Moving back to the Eastern Conference; if any team was going to challenge the Hurricanes as the best defensive team in hockey, it would be the Panthers. Finishing behind Carolina in both CorsiFor% and penalty kill percentage, the Panthers were only one of two teams to suffer less than 200 goals during the 2023-24 regular season.
Unfortunately, Florida has a tough offseason coming up, with Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour set to hit unrestricted free agency with too few dollars to go around. Acquiring Necas, will not completely replace the production left by Reinhart, but it would certainly soften the blow. Picking up Necas from the Hurricanes would also allow the Panthers to prioritize signing Montour to have a mostly intact defensive unit heading into the 2024-25 NHL season.
As far as the price for Necas, outside of a possible extension, should not be as steep as many would think. Since it has already broken out into the open that Carolina has no intention of giving Necas what he is asking for, the acquiring team would only be responsible for acquiring his signing rights out of the gate.
In this case, the Avalanche may be in a better position to acquire Necas from Carolina, as the Hurricanes may entertain an offer for the 24th overall pick of this year’s upcoming draft. Florida, on the other hand, does not have ownership over their first-round pick this year, having already sent it to the Philadelphia Flyers in the Claude Giroux trade.
If the Hawks made a competitive offer to sign him, it would be beyond worth the compensatory draft pick. He’s the ideal linemate for Bedard, to understate.
A first for Necas? This Canes fan says yes please!
There are several other potential landing spots for Necas. Seattle & Utah are both looking to add to their forward corps. Boston would be interested, maybe an Ullmark for Necas trade. Detroit could also be a fit. I don’t think Carolina will be lacking for suitors for Necas
Ullmark is not an upgrade for Carolina
Thats crazy talk
That’s actually crazy talk, I second this.
Kraken
I feel like Boston would just resign DeBrusk if they were intersted in Necăs, but maybe not.
As far as Seattle goes, I would definitely think the guy who originally drafted him and is in need of a top-six right wing would definitely be intersted. The Kraken’s other need is a center. Maybe Carolina can unload Kotkaniemi as part of the deal. I would think any team that takes him gets Necăs for free.
The Canes would buy out Kotkaniemi before giving Necas away for free. His buyout number is very low at the moment.
Also it’s Nečas, not Necăs, if you’re going to go that route.
The Drouin contract has not been signed, but it is already the worst contract in whomever’s team’s history.
Blues if they let Buch go?
Those Corsis are insane. He would go bananas in Colorado. Or as Shane Wright’s winger.
Thanks on the spelling. His buyout cost is still $10m. I don’t think Tom Dundon is the sort who is good with paying someone ten million dollars to not play for him. I hope Canes fans aren’t expecting some massive haul for a guy everyone knows Carolina isn’t resigning.
Its about the cap hit, which is 835k per season. Completely palatable with the cap expected to rise each year now.
The point mainly was that the idea of anyone getting Necas for free is ridiculous. They will get fair value for him.
It’s about the cap hit… except it’s not about the cap hit when you’re talking about a guy who puts the screws to John Forslund and Rod Brind’Amour… those guys aren’t on the cap. Dundon is not going to pay a guy $10m to not play for him… and the fact that it’s drug out over twelve years probably makes it worse. I don’t disagree with your premise, I just don’t think it applies to the circumstances. And nobody is saying “free”, anyone who takes KK is paying a price. In this case, ten million dollars.
The whole “Dundon is cheap” argument has never applied to the team on the ice, though. I agree that the Forslund thing was terrible, but RBA did just get a 5 year contract. That’s pretty long in these times.
He wont let an asset get away for lesser value due to the KK issue. They may or may not get a good deal for Necas, but it will be independent of the plans for KK imo.
I was kinda surprised they went five years at first, but I think it’s actually team friendly. I assume they locked in a discount, and I don’t think that’s necessarily unfair, but as sought after as RBA is, they can walk away anytime and his contract is going to get covered somewhere else. BUT I could also see him taking time off or retiring I suppose.
I agree that Dundon spends on the ice, but I also think on ice or off, he’s gonna hate the idea of paying a guy $10m to play for someone else.
I am very curious to see how Nečas plays out. I also agree, a package of the two seems very unlikely, just knowing Seattle needs a RW & C it sounds tempting.
Seattle is not giving up a top-10 draft pick for MN – at least if they’re smart. Also what will replace his offence in the ‘Canes lineup? Another sign that BrindA’Mour made a poor decision in re-signing with that cheap organization. Enjoy your late May golfing dates Rod!
I think he would add some needed secondary scoring for the Sabres and they have the cap space and they have the young talent to make a deal to include the 11th pick in this years draft.
Trade PLD for him!
Sure, you can have Kotkaniemi for PLD.
Talk about lose-lose.
We can agree on that.
Although in a hypothetical scenario where the cap isnt relevant, I would certainly prefer to gamble on PLD’s future at this point. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately? lol) it will never happen because the Canes need all the space they can get currently if they really plan to sign Guentzel.