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.
This isn’t surprising that Carolina is planning now to keep Necas especially after losing 2 top-six forwards in Guentzel & Teravainen in FA which would be rough for any team to deal with & attempt to replace immediately.
There is no denying Carolina was one of the teams that took the biggest hits in FA this offseason. Actually, one could argue they took the toughest hit in FA with the amount of losses they had.
They did most of their work without JG and Roslovic is an ok replacement for TT so I’m not expecting a huge drop-off.
More concerning is how much Walker/Ghost can make up for Pesce/Skjei. Could be tricky.
While yes, they did much work without Guentzel but he had a significant impact on their first line. The Aho line was ranked 86th in the NHL prior to Guentzel but when he arrived & joined the Aho line, it went from 86th to 11th in the NHL last season. That’s an exceedingly large increase in their offensive production.
IMO not finding an equal replacement for Guentzel & replacing Teravainen with Roslovic (who’s of lesser status for sure) isn’t an effective approach as I suspect a big decline in offensive production for Carolina.
I dont agree at all, but we will have to see.
If the Canes don’t get another top-six forward to play on the 2nd line with Necas and Roslovic, then they’re headed for a mediocre (or slightly above mediocre) year, with making the playoffs uncertain. They’re fairly well-situated for the 2024-25 season with lots of cap space, but this next year will be a struggle.
Same-old, same-old concern: weak offense. I honestly don’t know why they let Teravainen walk when they could have signed him for little or no raise. If Tulsky is right that it’s harder to trade after free agency, then why didn’t they get on it earlier? It’s Carolina’s story . . . a day late and a dollar short.
The center corps is what is really lacking. After Aho, they have Kotkaneimi, Drury, and Staal. They should give Necas his shot at 2nd line center. Use Drury on the third line and, of course, Staal on the 4th. Kotkaneimi is a complete waste as an NHL hockey player. They should buy him out or otherwise get rid of him. Bring this ill-advised 4.75 million experiment TO AN END.
Now this is an over-the-top chicken little take. Back away from the ledge.
You seem to be looking through your rose colored glasses if you see this team as a legitimate contender
I never said that. I said his take that they will be a mediocre team is over the top.
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