Hurricanes Attempted To Trade Necas Prior To Extension
One of the biggest names on the trade market this offseason was taken off the board earlier today as the Carolina Hurricanes signed Martin Necas to a two-year, $13MM extension. However, the Hurricanes were also close to moving on from Necas earlier in the summer according to Frank Seravalli in Daily Faceoff’s podcast, the DFO Rundown (approximately 31-minute mark).
Seravalli asserts that Carolina had agreed to a Necas trade with the Buffalo Sabres. However, Seravalli did admit in the podcast that it may not have been the Sabres but he was fairly certain. The trade broke down relatively quickly as Necas purportedly would not agree to sign a new contract in Buffalo. Furthermore from Seravalli, the Hurricanes also had substantial trade talks with the Winnipeg Jets about Necas. He states the Jets had offered prospect Rutger McGroarty, forward Cole Perfetti, and an unspecified draft pick for Necas.
It is unknown when these trade conversations happened as Carolina may have taken Necas off the market entirely after losing Jake Guentzel to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Hurricanes expect to compete for a Stanley Cup next spring, and their competitive aspirations would have been greatly diminished by losing two top-six forwards in one summer.
All points made by Seravalli point to the idea that Necas had a lot of control over the negotiations and effectively blocked his inclusion in either trade due to his unwillingness not to sign an extension with either organization. Necas has committed himself to Carolina for two more seasons and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the contract.
Factoring in Buffalo’s other moves from the summer, adding Necas into the team’s top six would have allowed them to move Jason Zucker down to the third line. Even still, with Zach Benson prepping for a bigger season in 2024-25, and Jiri Kulich on the cusp of cracking the roster; Necas may have dramatically saturated Buffalo’s forward core. However, unlike Benson and Kulich, Necas is an established player at the NHL level.
Without knowing the return to Carolina in the rumored swap with Buffalo, he is coming off a season in which he scored 24 goals and 53 points in 77 games and is only two years removed from scoring 71 points over a full season. He would have helped the Sabres return to their 2022-23 team goal production after seeing a nearly 50-goal decrease this past year, but Buffalo may have been better served by letting the rest of their prospect develop over the next two or three seasons.
The reported deal from the Jets organization appears on paper as a massive overpay, as Perfetti has arguably already shown he can be a top-six threat in limited playing time. The former 10th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft averaged 13:35 minutes last year and still managed to score 19 goals and 38 points in 71 games. Including McGroarty in the deal (who is coming off a 52-point campaign at the University of Michigan) would have given Carolina two two-six talents in exchange for one.
Nevertheless, Necas was never dealt with this summer and will remain with the Hurricanes organization for the foreseeable future. He will look to rebound off a depressed campaign last season and look to build upon his production in 2022-23 before entering the free agent market when he is 27 years old.
Hurricanes Re-Sign Martin Necas To Two-Year Deal
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.
2024 Salary Arbitration Tracker
It has been a quieter year on the salary arbitration front across the NHL. After 23 players filed last summer, just 14 did this time around. As expected, most have settled so far with a few hearings still pending. Here’s a rundown of who has settled and who still needs to sign.
Updated 7/30/24, 1:07 p.m.
Contracts Settled
D Jake Christiansen (Blue Jackets) – one year, $775K (two-way agreement)
F Connor Dewar (Maple Leafs) – one year, $1.18MM
F Jack Drury (Hurricanes) – two years, $3.45MM
D Ty Emberson (Sharks) – one year, $950K
G Jet Greaves (Blue Jackets) – two years, $1.625MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)
F Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Sabres) – five years, $23.75MM
F Beck Malenstyn (Sabres) – two years, $2.7MM
D J.J. Moser (Lightning) – two years, $6.75MM
F Joe Veleno (Red Wings) – two years, $4.55MM
F Oliver Wahlstrom (Islanders) – one year, $1MM
F Kirill Marchenko (Blue Jackets) – three years, $11.55MM
F Martin Necas (Hurricanes) – two years, $13MM
D Ryan Lindgren (Rangers) – one year, $4.5MM
Contracts Awarded
D Spencer Stastney (Predators) – two years, $1.675MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)
Scheduled Hearings
none
A reminder of some of the arbitration rules for the upcoming potential hearings:
- A player and team can settle on a deal at any point before the hearing starts.
- Once the hearing has taken place, the arbitration decision must be issued by email within 48 hours.
- Arbitration awards can only be one or two years in length. (Players who are in their final year of restricted free agency are only entitled to a one-year agreement from an arbitrator.)
- The team decides on the awarded term as these were all player-elected filings.
- The team can walk away from the arbitration decision if a contract with an average annual value of more than $4.74MM is awarded.
Worth noting is that teams who have someone file for arbitration will receive a second buyout window three days after their final contract is settled or awarded. The window lasts for 48 hours and the only eligible players to be bought out in this timeframe are those who have an AAV of $4MM or more and were on that team’s reserve list at the trade deadline back in March.
Hurricanes Increasingly Likely To Retain Martin Necas
For the past several months, there has been an expectation that the Hurricanes would move restricted free agent forward Martin Necas among the belief that Necas would like a bigger role and a contract more significant than Carolina would like to offer. However, while there was plenty of trade speculation in recent weeks, nothing came to fruition. Now, GM Eric Tulsky told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that while they’re still talking to teams, a trade seems less likely at this point:
It is a lot easier to make trades before July 1 when teams have flexibility to go pivot and sign other players to replace whatever they gave up than it is after July 1 when their roster is mostly built. We are continuing to talk to teams and we don’t want to miss an opportunity to make the team better, but teams have less flexibility now than they had in June, so it’s harder to find a deal now than it was then.
A natural center, Necas has spent the bulk of his NHL career playing on the wing, a role he held for the majority of last season. The 25-year-old had a breakout showing in 2022-23, collecting 28 goals and 43 assists in 82 games but he wasn’t able to match those numbers last season. Still, he potted 24 goals and 29 helpers in 77 contests, the second-best output of his career. That has him well-positioned to earn a significant raise on the $3MM AAV and $3.5MM salary he had in 2023-24.
Necas was one of 14 players to file for salary arbitration earlier this month, taking the possibility of him signing an offer sheet off the table. In doing so, he guaranteed himself a contract by early August. Talks between the two sides remain ongoing with Tulsky acknowledging that they’ve discussed everything between a one-year agreement to a max-term eight-year pact. Necas is two years away from UFA eligibility so a one-year deal would allow them to kick the question of his long-term future with the club down the road.
This has been a busy offseason for Carolina so far, one that has seen them lose Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Stefan Noesen. While they’ve brought in replacements for most players, they’ve largely been more role players with the exception of blueliners Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere.
As a result of the turnover, the Hurricanes find themselves with ample cap space, checking in with a little over $13.85MM in room, per PuckPedia. With that much flexibility, Tulsky has a chance to sign both Necas and RFA winger Seth Jarvis to long-term agreements and still be under the $88MM Upper Limit come October. With Necas having the closer deadline to sign as arbitration hearings end in early August, expect his case to be Carolina’s focus in the near term. But now, after it looked like a foregone conclusion that he’d be moved, there’s a very real possibility that he’s in the lineup for the Hurricanes on opening night.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Poll: Which Player Will Be The Next Domino To Fall On The Trade Market?
The NHL calendar has finally entered the ‘dog days’ of the summer as activity around the league has cooled off dramatically. Most, if not all, of the needle-moving free agents are off the board and the trade market has not developed as expected up to this point. Nevertheless, there are still some players rumored to be on the block including Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets, Martin Necas of the Carolina Hurricanes, and Patrik Laine of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
With how things have played out around the league, Ehlers feels like the most high-profile trade candidate to change hands this summer. The smooth-skating Dane is entering the last year of a seven-year, $42MM contract signed with the Jets in 2017 and is not expected to extend his stay in Winnipeg. Ehlers has been a reliable top-six forward for the Jets when healthy and is elite in terms of puck possession as evidenced by his career CorsiFor% of 57.6%. He has been relatively quiet in the postseason throughout his career which could give interested parties some pause. Winnipeg could still extend Ehlers as they took nearly the entire offseason last year to sign Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck to long-term contracts but the trade rumors around Ehlers appear to have more veracity.
Necas entered the summer as one of the top players on the trading block but his market has seemingly cooled over the last few weeks. The Hurricanes reportedly were not interested in signing Necas to a long-term deal but failed to find an offer to their liking during the 2024 NHL Draft. Now that Carolina has lost forwards Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, and Stefan Noesen to free agency, the team may be more willing to retain Necas. The skilled forward has prohibited himself from being given an offer sheet this summer as he elected for salary arbitration but the Hurricanes can still trade him during that window if they find a suitable offer.
Shortly before the 2024 NHL Draft, it was reported that Laine and the Columbus Blue Jackets had mutually agreed to find a suitable trade for the player this summer. However, with Laine still in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program, the likelihood of a deal squarely rests on when he exits the program. Now that most teams have done most of their heavy lifting this summer, it will be difficult to find a trade partner to take on Laine’s $8.7MM salary for the next two years. Between 2021-2023, Laine scored 48 goals and 108 points for Columbus in 111 games but only put up nine points in 18 games for the team last year. The former second-overall pick could surely use a fresh start outside the Blue Jackets organization but his trade market may be slow to develop.
There is no guarantee that any of the listed players will be moved this offseason. Ehlers and Necas could both sign extensions with their respective teams and Laine may have a change of heart now that Columbus is making a change at head coach. Nevertheless, with the trade market being the realm from which the next big offseason move will come, which of these players do you think will get the ball rolling?
Which Player Will Be The Next Domino To Fall On The Trade Market?
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Patrik Laine 33% (416)
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Nikolaj Ehlers 33% (415)
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Martin Necas 23% (286)
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Other (Comment below) 11% (141)
Total votes: 1,258
14 Players Elect For Salary Arbitration
Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and originally produced by the National Hockey Leaguer Players’ Association, 14 players have elected for salary arbitration this summer. The deadline for team-elected arbitration is tomorrow. Friedman also notes the arbitration hearings will happen between July 20th and August 4th. To add context, not every one of these players will appear for a hearing with their respective teams as they may continue to negotiate on a new contract. However, each player who elects for salary arbitration is now prohibited from negotiating with other teams or signing an offer sheet. Here is a list of the players that have elected for arbitration:
F Beck Malenstyn (Buffalo Sabres)
G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres)
F Martin Necas (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Jack Drury (Carolina Hurricanes)
D Jake Christiansen (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Kirill Marchenko (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Joe Veleno (Detroit Red Wings)
D Spencer Stastney (Nashville Predators)
F Oliver Wahlstrom (New York Islanders)
D Ryan Lindgren (New York Rangers)
D Ty Emberson (San Jose Sharks)
D J.J. Moser (Tampa Bay Lightning)
F Connor Dewar (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Free Agency Notes: Wedgewood, Girgensons, Necas
Dallas Stars goaltender Scott Wedgewood is expected to test free agency on July 1st (as per Sean Shapiro of EP Rinkside). The 31-year-old is coming off a two-year, $2MM that was the first one-way NHL deal of Wedgewood’s career. The Etobicoke, Ontario native has made it clear that he would like a raise on his $1MM and given that he didn’t start making NHL money until he was 29, it makes sense that would attempt to maximize his earning potential while he has a window to do so.
Wedgewood wasn’t great last season, posting a 16-7-5 record with the Stars, a 2.85 goals-against average, and a .899 save percentage. However, the free-agent goalie market is very thin this summer and he should have an opportunity to get a multi-year deal at bigger money than his last contract.
In other free agency notes:
- The Buffalo Sabres are still waiting to hear if forward Zemgus Girgensons plans to test free agency (as per Lance Lysowski). It was reported a month ago that the Sabres wouldn’t re-sign the 30-year-old, but they have reportedly offered him a contract to stay in Buffalo. The Riga, Latvia native has spent his entire 10-year NHL career with the Sabres, dressing in 688 games. Girgensons has only topped 20 points twice in his career and not since the 2014-15 season. He signed a one-year $2.5MM last June to forgo free agency but had the worst offensive season of his career with just eight goals and six assists in 63 games. While he didn’t produce much offense, his possession numbers at even-strength weren’t awful with a CF% of 49.2%.
- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that the Carolina Hurricanes could change their mind on trading forward Martin Necas. The Hurricanes have been trying to sign pending unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel and if he leaves Friedman believes the team could keep Necas and go to arbitration or sign a one-year deal. Carolina let the Columbus Blue Jackets negotiate a contract extension with Necas in an attempt to trade for the fourth overall pick, but the two sides weren’t able to reach an agreement.
Devils Notes: Smith, Necas, Pesce
James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now is reporting that New Jersey Devils defenseman Brendan Smith will likely become a free agent on July 1st. Nichols added that a different source of his told him that if Smith reaches free agency, it will be his choice and not the Devils. Smith was a trade candidate at the NHL trade deadline but ultimately stayed in New Jersey, however, when the season ended, Smith told the media that he hadn’t discussed a contract extension with the Devils.
The Devils have been busy as of late and are expected to make some major moves this summer, Smith has acknowledged that there is a pecking order to things, and it seems entirely possible that he is open to re-signing with the team. The 35-year-old has stated to the media that he loves New Jersey, but the most important thing to him is staying in the NHL.
In other Devils notes:
- Frank Seravalli has linked the Devils to Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas saying that New Jersey may have offered their 10th overall picks in this year’s draft in an attempt to acquire the 25-year-old. At this point, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Carolina is fielding a ton of offers for Necas, while simultaneously trying to sign pending unrestricted free agents such as Jake Guentzel. Necas had a solid, but unspectacular year with the Hurricanes, dressing in 77 games while posting 24 goals and 29 assists. He is a pending restricted free agent and is due a $3.5MM qualifying offer.
- Rumors continue to fly about the Devils signing free-agent defenseman Brett Pesce. The chatter began when Elliotte Friedman of the 32 Thoughts podcast linked the two sides late last week. Devils’ general manager Tom Fitzgerald told The Jeff Marek Show that he was in the market for defensemen to add to his backend. Pesce is a defense-first rearguard who can play in a variety of roles, he posted a career-high 30 points in the 2022-23 season, but that dropped last year to just three goals and 10 assists in 70 games.
Offseason Notes: Trade Board, Canadiens, Stars
TSN’s Chris Johnston published his annual offseason trade board in The Athletic in the middle of last week which sees a surprising name at the top of the list. At the top of the board, Johnston indicates that Mitch Marner is the top name on the trade block, even after cold water has been dumped on the likelihood of a Marner trade in recent weeks.
The rest of the names on Johnston’s list are unsurprising, as Boston Bruins’ Linus Ullmark, Carolina Hurricanes’ Martin Necas, Winnipeg Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers, and Ottawa Senators’ Jakob Chychrun round out the top five. Although the movement of any of these players is far from a guarantee, the NHL is expected to see a major shakeup in the summer months.
Nevertheless, the reality of a Marner trade is becoming less and less possible by the day, even after a dismal playoff performance and the President of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brendan Shanahan, indicating that “everything is on the table” with Toronto’s roster this summer. Marner holds a full no-movement clause in his contract; allowing him to control his destiny with the Maple Leafs’ organization. Marner can ride out the last year of his contract on Toronto’s roster and become an unrestricted free agent next summer if he chooses to do so.
Other notes:
- Another day has passed, which means another team has been directly linked to Martin Necas. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported yesterday that the Montreal Canadiens are looking to add a scoring forward before next Friday’s NHL Draft, and have been looking into Necas and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks. There are several options available to General Manager Kent Hughes heading into the offseason, outside of just Necas and Zegras. Throughout his tenure as General Manager of the Canadiens organization, Hughes has dived much more into the trade market to improve his club rather than bring in free-agent talent.
- The Dallas Stars received solid news on the injury front as General Manager Jim Nill stated that no injured member of the club requires surgery in the offseason (Article Link). During the Stars’ postseason run in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, all of Jani Hakanpää, Chris Tanev, Tyler Seguin, and Roope Hintz dealt with varying levels of injuries throughout the playoffs but should have an entire offseason to train and recover. Surprisingly, Hakanpää will not require a procedure this summer as a lower-body injury kept him out of the entirety of the postseason as his season concluded on March 16th.
Metro Notes: Shesterkin, Necas, Mercer
Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic speculated about how much goaltender Igor Shesterkin will be paid on his next contract with the New York Rangers. The 28-year-old is eligible to sign an extension on July 1st and given his play the last few seasons and his importance to the Rangers, it will likely be a record-breaking deal for a goaltender.
Shesterkin is reportedly looking for an AAV of $12MM, while most of the models Luszczyszyn uses to show his value are in the range of $9MM – $12MM annually. Given the volatility of the goaltending position, it’s fair to believe that Shesterkin could live up to a $12MM salary in some seasons of the deal, however, as he enters his 30s, it’s possible his play could fall off as it often does with goaltenders on the back half of their career.
In other Metropolitan Division notes:
- TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweeted that a few teams around the NHL are wondering if an offer sheet is a possibility for Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas. Carolina’s ask for the 25-year-old remains quite high, and the team has reportedly talked to almost every team around the league. Necas is a two-time 20-goal scorer who posted 24 goals and 29 assists in 77 games last season. The former first-round pick is a restricted free agent after making $3.5MM last season and will likely sign a lucrative long-term deal whether it’s an offer sheet or otherwise.
- Dawson Mercer was reportedly never part of the New Jersey Devils trade for goaltender Jacob Markstrom (as per Elliotte Friedman on The Jeff Marek Show). There was speculation that the 22-year-old was offered at one point, but Friedman poured cold water on that rumor saying that he had multiple sources tell him that the former first-round pick was never in the trade. Mercer took a step back last season but is just a year removed from posting 27 goals and 29 assists in 82 games.