The Carolina Hurricanes saw their second-round series comeback attempt end the New York Rangers this week and attention quickly turned to potential changes within the team’s roster after another failed postseason run. One of the biggest names that would be available is the Czech striker Martin Necas.
Necas is a restricted free agent this offseason after his two-year, $6 million bridge contract with Carolina expires. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, the Hurricanes and Necas are not expected to come to terms on a new deal.
“Necas, I’ve believed for some time that one probably doesn’t work there,” Friedman said. “I just don’t think they’re going to do what Necas wants to do.”
Necas, 25, was originally drafted as a center out of the Czech Republic and is rumored to see his NHL future through the middle of the ice. However, Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour has disagreed with that assessment so far in Necas’ career, and has placed him at right wing for much of his last five years with the Hurricanes. .
Necas has been very productive for Carolina the last two seasons, highlighted with a 71-point year (28g, 43a) during the 2022-23 campaign. He led the Hurricanes in scoring that season and pitched 53 points (24g, 29a) in 77 games last season on a deeper Carolina team.
Evolving Hockey projects that Necas’ next contract, in a sign-and-trade scenario, will be for seven years with an average annual cap value of around $7.5 million. The Hurricanes are expected to be big players this summer as they have several important pieces to their roster such as Necas, Seth Jarvis, Jake Guentzel, Jordan Martinook, Stefan Noesen, Teuvo Teravainen, Jalen Chatfield, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei all ready to big raises or unrestricted free agency. Main defender Jacob Slavin will also have to renew.
With a path forward with Necas seemingly not in the cards and the cap hit likely to command, moving him might be the team’s only and best option. Necas, like Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers, is a prime sign-and-trade candidate, allowing Carolina to maximize potential return and establish a long-term future with her eventual landing spot.
The Washington Capitals could be that landing spot as long as the Hurricanes don’t mind an intra-division deal. Washington will have plenty of cap space next season to accommodate a big cap hit and the Caps have also accumulated a good amount of Draft capital that Carolina can receive in return without increasing its own salary cap.
Necas would immediately have a high spot on the Capitals’ depth chart at their preferred center position. Washington is recovering from losing Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov up the middle and leaned heavily on players not used to being in the top six minutes to try to cover its lack of depth last year.
Adding Necas at center could form a potent one-two punch with Dylan Strome and also take some pressure off younger forwards like Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre. Necas, Strome, McMichael and Lapierre have also spent time on the wing at the NHL level, giving head coach Spencer Carbery a layer of flexibility with his center backs.
The Capitals will also have room on the wing with players like Max Pacioretty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel likely leaving in unrestricted free agency, plus TJ Oshie’s unknown health status. Top prospect Ryan Leonard, for the time being, is also expected to return to Boston College for his sophomore season.
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