Offseason Notes: Necas, Celebrini, Barberio
Martin Necas is one of the biggest-name restricted free agents still out there on the market. The 2017 12th overall pick had a disappointing year in 2021-22, but in 2020-21 had the makings of a future star, scoring 41 points in 53 games, a 63-point pace. Necas didn’t have the game-by-game impact many expected him to have last year, though, and he was supplanted in the Hurricanes’ forward pecking order by fast-rising rookie Seth Jarvis. He needs a new contract, and despite many speculating that he may need a change of scenery, Hurricanes GM Don Waddell remains focused on ironing out an extension.
Per Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, Waddell is nearing that goal. Waddell is quoted as saying that the team and Necas’ camp are negotiating on an “almost a daily basis” and that a deal is “getting close.” Waddell even takes it a step further, saying definitively that “it’s going to get done.” Despite a disappointing most recent season, it’s in the best interest for the Hurricanes to get Necas locked into an extension. While he’s mostly played as a winger in the NHL, Necas has prior experience as a center and could be in a position to seize a top-six center spot should Jesperi Kotkaniemi struggle in that role.
Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:
- Canadian forward Macklin Celebrini, a player currently projected to be a top prospect for the 2024 NHL draft, has committed to an NCAA school. Per NBC Sports Chicago’s Colby Cohen, Celebrini has committed to the Boston University, and will play there after spending next season with the USHL’s Chicago Steel. Celebrini has spent the past two seasons at minor hockey powerhouse Shattuck St. Mary’s, a school in Minnesota that has an impressive list of NHL alumni including Sidney Crosby, Kyle Okposo, and many others. Celebrini is expected to be a top player in the USHL before he heads to the NCAA.
- Yesterday, we covered how former NHL defenseman Mark Barberio had agreed to a mutual contract termination with his club, Lausanne HC. Now, we know where Barberio will be spending 2022-23. Per a team announcement, KHL club HC Dynamo Minsk has signed Barberio to a one-year deal. Barberio last appeared in the NHL in 2019-20, getting into 21 games with the Colorado Avalanche. 2022-23 will mark his return to the KHL after spending six games with HC Ak Bars Kazan last season, where he scored three points.
Michael Hage Headed To USHL
The USHL’s Chicago Steel landed a top CHL prospect when they signed a tender agreement with Macklin Celebrini earlier this month, and now they’ve done it again. Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports that Michael Hage has also signed a tender with the Steel, and will pass on the chance to play in the OHL.
Hage, 16, was expected to be a top-five pick in the upcoming OHL draft after his incredible performance at the 2022 OHL Cup, a tournament for the best U16 teams from Ontario and the United States. The young forward registered seven goals and 16 points for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens, only trailing Michael Misa–the latest player to be granted exceptional status into the CHL–in both categories.
While Misa is a top prospect for the 2025 draft, Hage is eligible for the 2024 event and figures to be a potential first-round selection at this point. While there’s still lots of time for that to change, joining the powerhouse Steel program should certainly help his development. It also means that Hage will retain his NCAA eligibility, perhaps leading to an opportunity to play college hockey in the future–something that disappears when a player suits up in the OHL.
At any rate, Hage will still likely be selected at some point in the OHL draft later this week and a team will hold his rights to try and convince him down the road. Fans in Chicago will be lucky enough to see him as he takes the next steps toward NHL relevance.
Snapshots: Kravtsov, Wallmark, Celebrini
The New York Rangers are primed for a legitimate Stanley Cup run, but it appears as though their malcontent prospect will not be joining them. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that instead of joining the Rangers for the playoff run, Vitali Kravtsov will begin his offseason training regimen in Russia, with the plan of arriving in New York well ahead of training camp.
Kravtsov, who requested a trade and basically forced his way back to the KHL for this entire season rather than play in the minor leagues, was eliminated from the KHL playoffs this week when Traktor Chelyabinsk fell to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The 22-year-old forward is a restricted free agent this summer and would need a new contract if he’s to play in New York next season.
- Earlier this month, both Lucas Wallmark and Joakim Nordstrom terminated their contracts in the KHL because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Their agent, Claes Elefalk, told SVT Sport that the two left “substantial amounts” on the table by terminating contracts that would have originally kept them in Russia until May 2023. The pair of Swedes are obviously well known to NHL fans, who watched Wallmark play nearly 200 games with the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks, and Nordstrom play nearly 500 with the Blackhawks, Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, and Calgary Flames, before leaving for the KHL last summer. Both are now unrestricted free agents.
- Though he was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Macklin Celebrini ended up being drafted first overall by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the most recent WHL U.S. Prospect Draft, after playing parts of two seasons at the powerhouse Shattuck St. Mary’s prep academy in Minnesota. Celebrini put up incredible numbers this year for the program, scoring 50 goals and 117 points in just 52 games. Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, it appears as though that pick was wasted (at least for now). Celebrini–a top prospect for the 2024 draft–has signed a tender agreement with the Chicago Steel of the USHL for the 2022-23 season. He will take the place of Chicago’s first-round pick in next month’s USHL draft, and will continue his development at another powerhouse program with the Steel.