Martin Necas will stay a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, in spite of everything.
The 25-year-old ahead, who was a restricted free agent and had an arbitration listening to scheduled for Aug. 4, agreed to a two-year, $13M cope with the crew on Monday, avoiding arbitration and agreeing to kick the can down the street on a long-term contract extension.
“Martin is an immensely expert participant who supplies a scoring menace each time the puck is on his stick,” Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky mentioned in a launch, through NHL.com. “He’ll play a key function within the continued success of our franchise, and we’re excited to have a multi-year contract finished.”
Necas, who simply completed a two-year, $6M cope with the Hurricanes, had initially expressed curiosity in shifting on from Carolina after not being completely satisfied together with his function within the crew’s offense, however he’d since come round to sticking it out after the crew did not commerce him within the early levels of the offseason.
The Hurricanes reportedly had a excessive asking worth for any crew inquiring about buying and selling for Necas, which included greater than a bundle of first-, second- and third-round picks. GM Eric Tulsky advised The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun earlier than the draft that he would match any provide sheet one other crew might give Necas.
Necas had a little bit of a down yr from his breakout season in 2022, wherein he scored 28 targets and 71 factors — each profession highs.
He nonetheless notched 24 targets 53 factors and tied for third on the crew in scoring, however his common ice time dropped significantly from 18:25 the earlier yr to 17:21 final yr and he wasn’t as concerned within the offense as he would’ve favored to have been, typically enjoying on the third line after the Hurricanes acquired Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov across the commerce deadline.
With Guentzel now in Tampa and Kuznetsov anticipated to signal with the Russian KHL, the door was opened for Necas to step again into Carolina’s high six.
