What's Next Once Hurricanes Winger Martin Necas Gets His New Contract?

Martin Necas has an arbitration hearing scheduled with the Carolina Hurricanes. There's speculation about whether he'll remain with the team once a contract gets done.

Weeks of trade speculation swirling about Martin Necas heading into July cooled after the 25-year-old Carolina Hurricanes winger filed for salary arbitration on July 5.

PuckPedia indicates his arbitration hearing is scheduled for Aug. 4 unless he and the Hurricanes agree to a new deal first. 

Necas is completing a two-year contract with an average annual value of $3 million. Earlier this month, we cited The Athletic's Cory Lavalette suggesting there could be a path for the winger and the Hurricanes to sign a one-year contract between $5.5 million and $6.5 million. 

On July 17, Sportsnet's Luke Fox and Rory Boylen speculated that Necas' rising asking price and his arbitration leverage were why the Hurricanes were exploring the trade market. 

Fox and Boylen noted the New Jersey Devils were considered front-runners, but they've since signed Tomas Tatar and Stefan Noesen and still have RFA forward Dawson Mercer to re-sign. They also claimed the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames were monitoring this situation.

The following day, however, NHL.com's Tom Gulitti reported Necas could remain in Carolina this season. Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky told Gulitti he intends to keep talking to interested clubs, but those teams no longer have the salary-cap flexibility they had in June. 

Those clubs could wait to see what Necas' new contract looks like before submitting trade offers. Of those listed by Fox and Boylen, all but the Devils currently have the cap space to acquire him. However, most of the Bruins' cap room will be taken up by signing RFA goalie Jeremy Swayman, while the Red Wings still have RFAs Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond to re-sign.

An off-season trade could still occur, but it wouldn't be surprising if Necas is in the Hurricanes' starting lineup for their season opener in October. 

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