Hurricanes forward Martin Necas speaks about off-season in which his future in Carolina wasn't guaranteed
Heading into this off-season there was much speculation about the future of Martin Necas in Carolina.
It started in late May when Necas' Dad, also named Martin, was speaking with Czech outlet Deník Sport about his son's future not being in Carolina.
'I’ll be very surprised if Martin Necas plays for Carolina in the next season. As his dad said, Martin wants to play in 1st line & 1st PP unit.'' Martin wants to be traded.” In my eyes, Necas is a great offensive winger.''
Despite his dad's comments and trade speculation, Necas re-signed with the Hurricanes on July 29th. Necas inked a two-year extension with a AAV of $6.5M
With the speculation and uncertainty of where he would be playing in the upcoming 2024-2025 season in the rear-view, Necas can now focus on getting prepared for training camp next month with the Hurricanes.
But prior to that, Necas recently caught up with Sportnets' Elliotte Friedman while Friedman was overseas for the NHL/NHLPA European Media Tour.
When speaking with Friedman, Necas opened up about his future with Carolina being uncertain.
“I wasn’t sure,” he admitted. “Lots of talking between us and Carolina. It was 50/50. I didn’t have the best season, wasn’t happy. But we turned the page, we figured out a way to stay for two more years.''
Many NHL teams were rumored to be kicking the tires on the 25-year-old Necas, which Necas admitted, mentioning the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets specifically.
“I’ll be honest, there were lots.” He did confirm Columbus and Winnipeg were serious, and some Hurricanes worked him hard to stay. “I love the guys in Carolina. Great chemistry off the ice.”
The Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets having interest in Necas isn't all that surprising as both clubs were rumored to have players available via trade as well, Patrik Laine in Columbus, who since got moved to the Montreal Canadiens, and Nikolaj Ehlers in Winnipeg. There was speculation prior to Necas re-signing in Carolina that the Jets and Hurricanes were involved in trade talks that would have involved Ehlers as part of a deal that would have seen Necas go the other way to Winnipeg. Ultimately though, Necas decided to re-sign with the Hurricanes.
'I feel like Carolina is my home. I was drafted there, I played there for five seasons, at the end of the day I'm happy that I'm back and can prove to people there that I’m better than I was last season. I’m excited, I’m pumped.”
With the Hurricanes having lost forwards Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Stefan Noesen and Evgeny Kuznetsov this summer, the Hurricanes will need Necas to replicate or surpass the level of production he provided in the 2022-2023 season. Necas had a career year that season, leading the Hurricanes in scoring. Necas scored 28 goals, 43 assists for 71 points in 82 games.
Necas followed up that season with a season last year in which he saw his production drop. The 23-24 season saw Necas finish with only 53 points in 77 games, a 18 point dip in scoring.
Now though, armed with a new 2 year contract and likely a bigger role, Necas is poised to possibly top his 22-23 season with even higher totals.
The Hurricanes could certainly use it.