The Hurricanes have come to terms with RFA forward Martin Necas, the team announced. It’s a two-year, $13MM pact with a $6.5MM cap hit, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
The deal will pay him $3MM in base salary and a $3MM signing bonus this season, per PuckPedia. In 2025-26, he’ll earn a $6MM base salary and a $1MM signing bonus. The contract walks the 25-year-old to unrestricted free agency without buying out any UFA years.
Carolina issued Necas a $3.5MM qualifying offer in June, confirming he’d be a restricted free agent this summer upon completion of a two-year, $6MM deal he signed in August 2022. Necas was eligible for salary arbitration and opted to file, and his hearing was set for Aug. 4. That won’t be necessary now, as the two sides avoid a hearing with today’s settlement. The news leaves the Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren (Aug. 2) as the only remaining RFA with upcoming arbitration hearings.
[RELATED: 2024 Salary Arbitration Tracker]
Necas was one of this offseason’s top trade targets, and that doesn’t necessarily change with a new contract in hand. But Carolina losing Jake Guentzel, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Stefan Noesen and Teuvo Teravainen to free agency this summer has stretched their forward depth uncomfortably thin, making a Necas trade a harder proposition to stomach. Some teams were reportedly considering preparing an offer sheet for Necas, Pierre LeBrun at TSN reported last month, but that option went away when he filed for arbitration.
The Czech forward appeared in 77 games last season, posting 24 goals, 29 assists, 53 points and a -9 rating while averaging 17:21 per night. It marked an overall regression after a career-best 2022-23 campaign that saw Necas post 28 goals and 71 points in 82 games while seeing some added usage at center. He spent nearly all of last season on the wing and only took 138 faceoffs, an average of 1.79 per game.
Carolina selected Necas with the 12th overall pick in the 2017 draft, and he’s largely fit the bill as a top-six winger since becoming a full-time NHLer in 2019-20. He’s put up 243 points in 362 career games (0.67 PPG), shooting 11.6% and averaging north of 16 minutes per game in every post-pandemic campaign. He gave the Canes 124 points in 159 games (0.78 PPG) over his previous two-year pact, earning himself more than double his previous AAV on this deal.
After signing Necas, the Hurricanes have $6.44MM in projected cap space with a roster size of 22, per PuckPedia. That figure assumes Jesper Fast, who missed all of the 2024 playoffs with a neck injury, starts the season on injured reserve. That last roster spot will go to Seth Jarvis, who remains an RFA in need of a new contract. It’s likely that nearly all of their remaining cap space will go toward that deal, which is likely to be a bridge contract for that AAV. Evolving-Hockey projected a long-term deal for Jarvis to come in around $8.5MM per season, which isn’t affordable after their other moves.
With their offensive depth slashed, Necas is primed for more minutes in 2024-25, should he remain with Carolina. The Canes are hoping he can return to his 70-point form to coincide with more usage, but a career-best year would be great altogether for the team’s on-ice success and Necas’ trade value if they’re still looking to move him.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
I thought Marchenko had already reached a 3 year deal.
Correct. Updating on the fly