Carolina Hurricanes Fielding Trade Calls on Young Forward
On this past Tuesday's (June 21) episode of TSN Insider Trading, NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun reported that the Carolina Hurricanes have been receiving calls on 23-year-old RFA Martin Necas. While Lebrun stated he does not believe the Hurricanes want to move Necas, they could be willing to given the right price particularly, a young defenseman.
Necas has spent time at both center and on the wing in Carolina and is coming off somewhat of a down year following his breakout offensive season in 2021. He put up 41 points in 53 games that season while boasting a +25 +/-, and playing 17:17 ATOI. This season he lost some of his ice time in the Hurricanes top 6 due to the breakout of rookie Seth Jarvis playing slightly over a minute less of TOI with 16:11 ATOI.
Necas finished this past season with 14 goals and 40 points in 78 games. So it is not hard to tell why teams are interested in the young forward. Necas has shown he can create offensively, dazzling with some highlights, but after a down year and a disappointing playoff finish for the Hurricanes, it leaves some question marks around his next contract.
If the rumors from earlier this summer are true, and the Hurricanes are looking to add scoring this summer to their core of Aho, Svechnikov, and Teräväinen, then maybe the Blackhawks have a chance of trading for Necas this summer. While the Blackhawks certainly have an abundance of young defenseman, they likely don't have any of value that Carolina would view as worth Necas, but there is a chance Necas could end up as the center piece of a package for Alex DeBrincat.
For those wondering why the center piece of a trade for DeBrincat is a player coming off a down year or why give up on DeBrincat, it's because in order to do a "rebuild" you first have to tear down what was in its place. If Carolina has called Kyle Davidson about DeBrincat then he should be asking about Necas as part of that package. Necas would most likely be the biggest name coming in return if this hypothetical trade were to happen but would have to be supplemented by prospects and picks.
The reason why fans should want him as part of that package is because any trade with DeBrincat to a good team probably means draft picks coming back are in the 20-32 range and Necas has shown he has some high level skill as the former 12th overall pick.
Necas would most likely have a solid chance to be the best offensive player on the Blackhawks next season. This is assuming that Davidson does take a sledge hammer to the roster and tear it all down: as Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik are rumored to be leaving via free agency, the future is uncertain for former faces of the franchise Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, as well as listening to offers on Kirby Dach (who offensively Necas has performed much better than).
For those who are fans of the analytical side of hockey, in a down year offensively for Necas his 1.9 points per 60 minutes would have been 4th on the Hawks behind Kane, DeBrincat, and Stome respectively (had Necas had his pace from the previous year, 2.7 PTS/60 he would have finished identical to DeBrincat).
Now is the time of year where trade talk and rumors are going to start flying, so this could be connecting dots that aren't even there. If the Hawks are to trade DeBrincat to the Hurricanes Necas is certainly someone I would want in a return package. Let me know if you agree in the poll below and in the comments! (PS Enjoy a Necas highlight reel).
| POLL | ||
Would you want to see Martin Necas on the Blackhawks? | ||
| No Carolina needs him. | 22 | 24.4 % |
| Yes he's young and exciting to watch! | 32 | 35.6 % |
| I guess he'd help lessen the blow of losing Cat. | 36 | 40 % |
| List of polls | ||
