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Canadiens Re-Sign Justin Barron To Two-Year Deal

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The Canadiens have re-signed defenseman Justin Barron, according to a team release, which states that the Canadian righty will receive a two-year, $2.3MM contract. He’ll cost $1.15MM against the cap through 2025-26.

After a trio of seasons with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, the Avalanche selected Barron 25th overall in 2020. He spent his post-draft season back with Halifax before inking his entry-level contract with Colorado in April 2021, finishing out the season with their AHL affiliate. He made his NHL debut for the Avs the following season but played just two games before he was sent to Montreal in a deal for winger Artturi Lehkonen.

The 22-year-old has steadily climbed up the Montreal depth chart since. He’s spent the slight majority of the last two seasons on the Canadiens roster but has still seen significant time with their AHL affiliate in Laval. That’s where he played the back half of last season, playing almost exclusively in the minors after being sent down in mid-January. He was, however, recalled for a seven-game stretch in April to finish the regular season in Montreal.

In 94 games with the Avs and Habs the past few years, the Halifax native has 12 goals, 18 assists and 30 points with a -8 rating while averaging 18:33 per night. He’s already held his own offensively while playing fringe top-four minutes and likely still has second-pairing upside long-term. Barron has solid possession numbers and has consistently had better shot attempt shares than the Habs’ team average.

All signs point to him being ready to graduate to full-time NHL usage next season, but he enters a tight competition for spots with other youngsters like Lane Hutson, Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj, who signed a slightly richer two-year deal earlier today. Notably, Barron’s $1.15MM cap hit is the maximum that can be stashed in the minors without incurring a penalty. However, sending him to Laval would require exposing him to waivers, and he’d likely get claimed.

Barron was Montreal’s last remaining unsigned RFA. He’ll be eligible for arbitration when his new deal expires.

Eric Staal Announces Retirement

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It’s been all quiet on the Western Front for Eric Staal for over a year now. The free-agent center reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers in 2023 but didn’t sign or play anywhere last season.

On Tuesday, Staal confirmed he’d played his last NHL game, signing a one-day contract with Carolina to retire as a Hurricane. The Canes will also retire Staal’s No. 12 at a yet-to-be-announced game this season.

“I want to thank my family, former teammates, coaches and staff members who played a role in helping me live my dream, playing in the NHL,” Staal said in a statement released by the team. “I will forever treasure the memories and friendships made during my 18 years in the world’s best league.”

“There was no doubt in my mind that when it became time to hang up my skates, I would want to retire as a Carolina Hurricane,” he continued. “To now also know that the team is retiring my No. 12 is truly humbling and I am extremely grateful and honored.”

Staal, 39, is often overlooked as one of the NHL’s early salary-cap-era stars. But the Thunder Bay, Ontario native was always expected to make an indelible impact on the Canes after being drafted second overall in the famously stacked 2003 draft. While he hasn’t played there in over eight years – his tenure ended with a trade to the Rangers in 2016 – he’s still arguably the most impactful talent in Carolina history since the franchise relocated from Hartford in 1997.

His best came early, erupting as a sophomore in the 2005-06 season to lead the Canes in scoring with 45 goals and 100 points, both career-highs. 21 at the time, Staal was the centerpiece of the Canes’ best season in franchise history to that point, crossing the 50-win and 100-point thresholds for the first time. It ended in glory, adding nine goals and 28 points in 25 playoff games as he led the team in scoring en route to their first and only Stanley Cup.

Over parts of 12 seasons in Raleigh, Staal solidified himself as the Canes’ post-relocation leader in games played (909), goals (322), assists (453), points (775), power-play goals (105), power-play points (252) and hat tricks (13) – hat tip to the team’s Walt Ruff for those stats. He averaged over 20 minutes per game in a Carolina uniform and served as their captain from 2009 to 2016, succeeding franchise pillar Rod Brind’Amour.

Age-related decline came for Staal early, though, and his point totals were steadily decreasing by the time he was traded to the Rangers at age 31. His stay with the Blueshirts didn’t extend past the last few months of the season, and he landed in the State of Hockey with the Wild as a free agent in the summer of 2016. He had a bit of a resurgence in Minnesota, most remembered for a 42-goal, 76-point campaign in 2017-18 that placed him 17th in Hart Trophy voting. But his days of being a dominant top-line threat were behind him.

He played the final few seasons of his career with the Sabres, Canadiens and Panthers, serving as a good veteran depth piece on Montreal and Florida teams that each reached the championship series (2021 and 2023, respectively). But he couldn’t recapture the honor he had nearly two decades ago and was on the losing end of both series.

All in all, Staal wraps up his career with 455 goals, 608 assists and 1,063 points in 1,365 NHL games across 18 seasons. The eldest of the four Staal brothers with NHL experience, including Jared Staal, Jordan Staal and Marc Staal, retires at 76th on the league’s all-time scoring list. All of us at PHR congratulate Staal on a championship-caliber career and wish him the best as he enters the next phase of his hockey career.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Central Notes: Faber, Wood, Hemming, Buchinger

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The Wild’s franchise-record extension for rising sophomore defenseman Brock Faber turned some heads yesterday, but general manager Bill Guerin believes the deal is “worth the risk,” he told Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscriber link).

Smith adds that Guerin has acknowledged the league-wide trend of banking on potential core pieces early in their careers, getting the cost certainty that comes with rich, long-term deals compared to bridging players through their prime and then overpaying for their twilight seasons.

“This is a different game now, a different generation, a different way of doing business,” Guerin said. “It’s really important you have to do a lot of work to make sure who you’re identifying as your foundation guys… I’d much rather have a guy Brock’s age on an eight-year deal than a 31-year-old guy. It makes sense. [Faber’s] shown he’s mature enough to handle it.”

More out of the Central Division:

  • As the Predators’ No. 1 forward prospect, winger Matthew Wood is looking to be more efficient at filling out his 6’4″ frame, he tells Robby Stanley of NHL.com. “I feel a lot stronger on my feet. I think I’m starting to use my body a bit better and starting to learn about that. Strength is definitely something I’m working on, and that’s going to take my game to the next level,” Wood said. The 19-year-old is transferring from UConn, where he had 27 goals and 62 points in 70 games over the first two seasons of his collegiate career, to Minnesota for his junior season in 2024-25.
  • The new-look Stars have been built on the back of expert player development, a pattern they’re hoping to repeat with 2024 first-round pick Emil Hemming. Dallas already has the Finnish winger signed to his entry-level contract, and he’ll be closer to the Stars this season by moving from his home country to the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League. It’s part of an attempt to strike gold yet again and work more directly with the 6’1″, 205-lb forward on developing his all-around game, writes Sean Shapiro of EP Rinkside on his personal blog (subscriber link).
  • In an interview with Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (subscriber link), Blues defense prospect Michael Buchinger says he’s ready to make the jump to the pros this fall after wrapping up his junior career with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm. “I just think making the first decision, not trying to overthink, not trying to make a fancy pass,” Buchinger said. “Obviously at the pro level, everyone’s in that right position. Just understanding the systems and where guys are going to be and making a really quick, smart decision. I think the rest will take care of itself.” The No. 88 pick in 2022 will have his entry-level contract go into effect this year, and he’s expected to start the campaign on assignment to AHL Springfield, where DeFranks notes he should have ample power-play opportunity thanks to roster turnover.

Devils Re-Sign Nico Daws To Two-Year Deal

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The Devils have re-signed RFA goaltender Nico Daws to a two-year deal, according to a press release from the team. It’s a two-way pact in 2024-25 ($775K NHL/$350K AHL) before upgrading to a one-way structure in 2025-26, paying him $850K. That works out to an average annual value and a cap hit of $812.5K. Daws also has a salary guarantee of $465K this season, the team said.

Daws, 23, was selected with the 84th overall pick out of the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm in 2020. He signed his entry-level contract with the Devils one year later after playing one season of pro hockey with Germany’s ERC Ingolstadt. He was immediately thrust into action, making 23 starts and two relief appearances in the 2021-22 campaign. The Germany-born Canadian was one of seven netminders the struggling Devils used that season. He was arguably the best of all of them, leading them with 10 wins and posting a .893 SV%, the highest among NJ goalies with at least 15 GP that season.

After the Devils acquired Vitek Vanecek from the Capitals ahead of 2022-23, Daws could more comfortably return to a development role in the AHL. He responded with an All-Star season for the Utica Comets, posting a .904 SV% and 2.70 GAA in 33 contests with two shutouts and a 16-14-3 record. He added a .920 SV% in six playoff games before undergoing offseason hip surgery that delayed his debut last season until December.

Upon returning to health, Daws was again called upon to aid a New Jersey crease struggling with injuries and poor play from its veterans and other youngsters. He remained a passable NHL option, posting a .894 SV%, 3.15 GAA and -5.1 GSAA in 21 performances and a 9-11-0 record.

With other early-20s competitor Akira Schmid out of the picture after being traded to the Golden Knights a few weeks ago, Daws enters 2024-25 as the Devils’ undisputed No. 3 netminder. He remains waiver-exempt and will likely start the season in Utica with veterans Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom manning the NHL crease. Daws has 14 games remaining until he loses that waiver exemption and will require them beginning in 2025-26, regardless of what NHL action he sees this season, per CapWages’ waivers calculator.

Canadiens Re-Sign Arber Xhekaj To Two-Year Deal

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RFA defenseman Arber Xhekaj has agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Canadiens, the team announced in a press release. The deal is worth $2.6MM and will pay him an average of $1.3MM per season.

Xhekaj, whose younger brother Florian Xhekaj is also in the Habs’ system, has spent the last two seasons in Montreal. He’s posted 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) and a -3 rating while averaging 15:34 per game in 95 contests.

Undrafted, Xhekaj burst onto the scene directly out of junior hockey just one season after inking his entry-level contract with the Canadiens. After losing his 2020-21 season due to COVID-19, Xhekaj signed with Montreal in October 2021 and returned to the Ontario Hockey League for his final season of juniors, which the hard-hitting defender split between the Kitchener Rangers and Hamilton Bulldogs.

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Xhekaj was drawing trade interest throughout last season, with the Flyers named specifically as a suitor. No move materialized, though, and Montreal projects to enter next season with the same group of promising young defenders. Their only noticeable departure on the blue line this summer was stay-at-home depth piece Johnathan Kovacevic, who they traded to the Devils for a 2026 fourth-round pick after last month’s draft.

The deal comes in around expected for the 23-year-old, who didn’t have enough professional experience accumulated to file for salary arbitration this summer. While the Ontario native is certainly becoming a fan favorite in Montreal, he’s been given only sparse opportunities on special teams and has logged decisively bottom-pairing minutes at even strength. The left-shot defender can also play comfortably on the right side, potentially giving him the edge in a battle for a spot in the opening night lineup with other developing prospects like Justin Barron, Lane Hutson and Jayden Struble.

After the signing is registered, the Habs will be left with just over $6.6MM in projected cap space with a roster size of 22, per PuckPedia. The last remaining roster spot could go to Barron, who’s still an RFA in need of a deal for next season.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

How Long Is The Vancouver Canucks’ Competitive Window?

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In an article today from Harman Dayal of The Athletic (Subscription Required), he analyzes the Vancouver Canucks competitive window with their current salary cap structure. The Canucks experienced a 26-point jump in the standings last season while winning the Pacific Division for the first time since the division was created ahead of the 2013-14 NHL season. Additionally, Vancouver qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third time in 11 seasons before being ousted in Round Two by the eventual Western Conference Champions, the Edmonton Oilers.

The Canucks have high-priced players at the top of their salary cap table with $11.6MM and $8MM contracts for forwards Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, respectively. The organization has just over $15K available in salary cap space according to PuckPedia but has done a nice job in parsing out the rest of their roster. Vancouver arguably has two of the better bargain contracts in the league with defenseman Quinn Hughes ($7.85MM until 2026-27) and goaltender Thatcher Demko ($5MM until 2025-26).

Dayal argues that the Canucks are similar to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the late 2010s and the early 2020s as they captured two Stanley Cup Championships while paying Andrei Vasilevskiy, Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli, Brayden Point, and Blake Coleman well-below market value. Because of this, Tampa Bay was able to fill out the rest of the roster and create one of the better dynasties in the league since the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings.

The argument seems a little off-base as the Canucks core is a little bit further ahead in their contractual lives than the comparables from the Lightning. Tampa Bay does have the benefit of being in a no-tax state which keeps contracts lower on average but the players listed were not as far into their careers at that point. Once the chickens came home to roost, the Lightning have been bounced from Round One in back-to-back years and the organization has had to make tough decisions to stay salary cap compliant.

This is why Vancouver’s contention window largely comes down to the contracts of Hughes, Demko, and Brock Boeser. The latter becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season and could earn nearly $9MM if he comes close to repeating his 40-goal campaign from the 2023-24 season. Boeser’s shooting percentage (19.6%) throughout last year was more than seven points higher than his career average which points to regression next season. If Boeser comes back down to earth near the 20-30 goal range, his asking price should come down substantially.

Hughes and Demko will be much tougher to absorb for Vancouver especially if the former continues to play at a Norris Trophy-level pace. This year’s award winner finished with 92 points in 82 games and could be in line for a contract near the $12MM average on his next deal. Regardless of the salary cap projections over the next three years, this would be a pricey contract for any team let alone the Canucks.

Demko may provide an easier contract situation to resolve as his injury history continues to mount. He did play in 51 games for the Canucks this past season while maintaining a .918 save percentage but was absent from the team for much of this year’s playoff run. If Demko can stay healthy, this may cause a financial hurdle for Vancouver if he continues to post one of the better save percentages in the league compared to his peers.

All in all, Vancouver’s contention window is at least over the next two years with Demko and Hughes signed to team-friendly contracts. If general manager Patrik Allvin can continue to be crafty on the trade market like he was last season, the Canucks should be well poised to make a run soon. However, much like Tampa Bay’s recent history, Vancouver could be positioned to make some difficult decisions regarding their roster in only a few short years.

International/Minor Transactions: Thoresen, Voynov, Kawaguchi, Skirving

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Veteran forward Patrick Thoresen will play during his age-41 season as he’s signed a contract to play for Djurgårdens IF of HockeyAllsvenskan according to his previous team, Storhamar in Norway. The international veteran started his professional career in the 2003-04 season with Mörrums GoIS of HockeyAllsvenskan after a brief two-year stint in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Although he’s mostly known for his international efforts, Thoresen spent two years in the NHL from 2006-08 with the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers where he collected six goals and 24 points in 106 games as the first undrafted Norwegian to crack an NHL roster. Unfortunately, his NHL career did not pan out as expected and Thoresen returned to Europe with HC Lugano in Switzerland.

Thoresen has also regularly represented Team Norway in the Olympic Games and the World Championships where he’s collected nine points in 13 games in the former, and 55 points in 66 games in the latter. During the World Championships in 2012, Thoresen scored seven goals and 18 points in only eight games which ended up being one point less than tournament scoring leader Evgeni Malkin.

Other international/minor transactions:

  • Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL announced they have signed former NHL defenseman Slava Voynov to a contract for the 2024-25 season. Voynov was a member of the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL where he helped the team win Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014 while collecting 18 goals and 81 points in 190 career games. Infamously, Voynov pleaded no contest to a reduced misdemeanor charge in a domestic violence case brought forward by his wife Marta Varlamova on December 1st, 2014. The Kings terminated Voynov’s contract on September 17th, 2015 and he has continued his career in Russia ever since.
  • Former captain at the University of North Dakota, Jordan Kawaguchi, is trying his luck in the Elite Ice Hockey League as the Belfast Giants announced they have signed the young forward for the 2024-25 season. Kawaguchi managed a productive career in North Dakota before signing his entry-level contract with the Dallas Stars in 2021. Unfortunately, Kawaguchi failed to make much noise in the AHL with the Texas Stars and was demoted to playing with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. He was much more productive in Idaho but he briefly retired after the 2022-23 ECHL season due to injuries such as concussions, a torn MCL, and a broken thumb. Kawaguchi still returned to hockey last year and scored eight goals and 31 points in 23 games for the Steelheads.
  • Longtime ECHL veteran Todd Skirving is sticking in the league as he has signed a one-year contract with the Reading Royals as announced by the team. It will be Skirving’s seventh straight season in the ECHL and his first in Reading. Split between the Orlando Solar Bears, Utah Grizzlies, Atlanta Gladiators, Newfoundland Growlers, and the Florida Everblades, Skirving has scored 74 goals and 149 points in 301 ECHL games while winning a Kelly Cup in 2019 with the Growlers, and last year with the Everblades.

Hurricanes Attempted To Trade Necas Prior To Extension

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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.

Wild Sign Brock Faber To Eight-Year Extension

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2:17 p.m.: Faber’s contract structure is as follows, per PuckPedia. It’s paid out entirely in base salary with no signing bonuses.

2025-26: $10MM
2026-27: $9.5MM
2027-28: $8.5MM
2028-29: $8.5MM
2029-30: $8.5MM
2030-31: $8.5MM
2031-32: $7.5MM
2032-33: $7MM

12:35 p.m.: Wild defenseman Brock Faber is getting paid after a strong rookie season. The blue liner has inked an eight-year, $68MM extension with an $8.5MM cap hit that will keep him in Minnesota through 2032-33, the team announced Monday.

The deal carries trade protection beginning in 2030-31, featuring a no-movement clause and a modified no-trade clause (15-team no-trade list), reports Michael Russo of The Athletic. That’s the soonest Faber is eligible to receive NMCs or NTCs thanks to his August birthday.

Faber, 22 in August, became eligible to sign an extension on July 1. He’s entering the third and final season of his entry-level contract and would have become an RFA next summer.

Barring any unforeseen additions, the deal will make Faber Minnesota’s highest-paid defenseman beginning in 2025-26. The stout defender, who finished second in Calder Trophy voting last season only to star Blackhawks center Connor Bedard, will surpass franchise pillars Jared Spurgeon ($7.5MM cap hit through 2027) and Jonas Brodin ($6MM cap hit through 2028) for the title. He’ll be the second-highest-paid player on the team behind former Calder winner Kirill Kaprizov, who has two seasons left at a $9MM cap hit. It’s the largest extension and the highest cap hit for a defenseman in franchise history, Russo adds.

The hometown kid entered last season with just two NHL games under his belt, both coming at the tail end of 2022-23 after losing in the NCAA national tournament with Minnesota and subsequently signing his ELC. He was forced into number-one duties for the Wild much of last season with injuries to Brodin and Spurgeon, averaging 24:58 a night while playing in all 82 games. It was the highest ATOI by a rookie since the league began tracking the stat in 1997-98 (min. 25 GP).

That meant Faber was tasked with being a first-unit option at even strength and on both special teams. Offensively, he fit the bill, leading Wild defenders and finishing fifth on the team in scoring with 47 points (8 G, 39 A). His 150 blocks also finished second on the club behind Jacob Middleton. While he fell just short of the Calder, he earned First All-Rookie Team honors for his contributions as the Wild fell short of the playoffs.

The deal buys out all five of Faber’s remaining RFA years and three UFA years. It takes him through his age-30 season, meaning he could still be in line to land a decently rich mid-term deal on the open market in 2033.

The deal took about a month to negotiate. Russo reported back on June 28 that negotiations between Faber and the Wild had begun. It comes in a good bit higher than the seven-year, $7MM AAV deal that Evolving-Hockey projected Faber to sign if he extended this month. It’s quite comparable to the extension that Sabres defender Owen Power signed last summer, which came in at seven years and $58.45MM ($8.35MM AAV). That deal was worth 9.5% of the salary cap at its start, while Faber’s is worth 9.6%.

Faber is the second player entering the final season of his entry-level contract to sign a max-term extension this summer, joining Canadiens 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky. There are plenty of notables who could still sign, including the Stars’ Wyatt Johnston, the Habs’ Kaiden Guhle, and the Devils’ Luke Hughes, whose negotiations will be impacted directly by Faber’s terms. Hughes posted identical point totals to Faber last season and finished one spot behind him in Calder Trophy voting, although he averaged more than three fewer minutes per game.

Even with Spurgeon expected to return to full health in 2024-25, Faber is still likely to begin the season in first-pairing, first power play and first penalty kill minutes, Daily Faceoff projects.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Hurricanes Re-Sign Martin Necas To Two-Year Deal

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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.

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