The Montreal Canadiens Got Some Bad News About Martin Necas
If you were looking forward to an exciting off-season, full of big name moves and massive shake-ups, perhaps you should follow the Nashville Predators. The biggest moves of the off-season was locking down Juraj Slafkovsky to a long term deal, signing Alex Barre-Boulet and trading Jonathan Kovacevic to open up spots in the blueline, and getting a fourth round pick.
Not that there wasn’t a lot of rumors this off-season. From young prospects like the Winnipeg Jets’ Rutger McGroarty, to aging stars like Vladimir Tarasenko (who went to Detroit), and Steven Stamkos (who went to the aforementioned Nashville Predators). Another name that was connected with the Canadiens was Martin Necas.
For a long time, the Carolina Hurricanes have been the envy of many teams. They are a deep and talented team that is constantly at the top of the standings, but haven’t made the next step to making the Final, and winning the Cup.
And the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes have an interesting recent history. The, at-the-time Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin offer-sheeted young Hurricanes star centre Sebastian Aho, which was matched. And then, the Hurricanes offer-sheeted Jesperi Kotkaniemi and poached the former third-overall pick, a move that has not worked great for the Hurricanes.
One move that did work out for the Hurricanes, was selecting Necas 12th overall in 2017, one spot before Nick Suzuki. It took a few years for him to hit his peak, but the past two years have been fantastic for Necas. 2022-23, Necas scored 28 goals and 71 points in 82 games, and then had a just as good 2023-24, scoring 24 goals and 53 points in fewer games.
The problem is that a good team has good players, and good players have to get paid. So the question became how would the Hurricanes could afford everyone. Their big acquisition to shore up for the playoffs was Jake Guentzel, on an expiring contract from the Penguins. However, the problem solved itself as Guentzel was moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
So without the offensive aid of Guentzel, and not having to pay him for a 7 year, $9 million contract. That frees up a lot of space, and Necas is projecting to have between $5-7 million, depending on the length. That’s definitely a lot more doable, and missing the production of Guentzel, and the ever-expanding impact of Necas might be too much to lose for the team.
And, therefor, the news of the day is that Necas is staying with the Hurricanes. TSN is saying he is more likely to stay than go, and Hurricanes General Manager Eric Tulsky has stated that he is certain that some agreement will be reached between him and Necas.
So, unfortunately, it looks like the Montreal Canadiens will have to look for another source of top-6 offense this year. If nothing changes, the Habs still project to be quite poor this year, but as the younger players continue to develop, the future looks bright, even without Martin Necas.
