The Martin Necas Thread

[Anybodyhome]

https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/martin-necas-im-ready-for-anything

A restricted free agent, Martin Nečas has been the focus of trade rumors the entire off-season, and now he has elected for salary arbitration.

When he was in Prague a couple of weeks ago for the Golden Hockey Stick (Zlatá hokejka) awards, Czech journalists asked him about the situation. He shed some light, or as much as he could, on what some of his issues were with the Carolina Hurricanes and how negotiations were going. 

“We talk about it every day, we are in contact with them,” he said back on May 24. “I hope it goes well for both me and the club. Either we continue together and it will be the best. Or I go somewhere else, but in that case, I hope we don’t part on bad terms, but in a good way.”

One of the interesting things that Nečas revealed about negotiations is that, in addition to his agent speaking to Carolina management, he has been throughout this process in regular contact with owner Tom Dundon.

“It’s like that with us – I don’t think many NHL teams have this – that we talk directly to the owner. The owner calls me,” he said. “But, of course, contracts are handled by the agent.”

One of the sticking points in Carolina seems to be Nečas’ desire to have a larger role on the team, but this past season saw his ice time and usage in key situations, such as on the power play, reduced.

“Yeah, it’s not ideal,” he responded when it was brought up. “There are coaches who set those things up, and they decide which players to use. I was not among the key players. I would like to improve that in the future, both from my point of view and overall. I know that in these situations I feel the best on the ice and I would like to play in them, but I have to earn it and I hope that happens.”

Asked about the possibility of a trade, he answered, “I’m ready for anything. Carolina has my rights and I don’t know what will happen. They know my position, so we’ll see. I'd like to say more, but I can’t. Maybe we’ll find out in a few days or weeks.”

The days and weeks since have revealed that not much has changed. Apparently, he was very close to being traded to Columbus during the draft in Las Vegas, but that fell through because Nečas refused to sign an extension there. That would seemingly indicate that, at the very least, he doesn’t see remaining in Carolina as the worst possible outcome.  

 

[MillionDollarCam]

I know there’s smoke around Ehlers and McGroaty but I’d hope Necas isn’t involved in any trade for Ehlers. In a perfect world we keep Necas for a couple years and add Ehlers through picks and prospects. Trading Necas for Ehlers just opens up another hole.

[Panthers Fan 69]

I like the idea of moving this to its own thread.  Necas seemed to really come around in the playoffs after a difficult start. I hope somehow it works out for him and the canes.  I really would love a 1 year price ut deal at center with us. If he crushes it and solves the 2C spit then you ink him

[PantherChris]

Necas became quite clutch this post season, I for one do not want to see him moved while we still have two years of team control.... (going to arbitration allows us to put him in a 2 year contract) I'd like to see him get a bigger role tried at C and on the power play (witht the departure of Guentzel and Turbo that shouldn't be a problem) we need MORE SCORERS NOT LESS. 

An Elhers deal wouldn't require Necas IMO

[carpanfan96]

https://x.com/mikethejet/status/1810722493071503760?s=46

“ he had no interest in signing an extension in CBJ, BUF, or WPG.“

Edited July 9 by carpanfan96

[Anybodyhome]

1 hour ago, carpanfan96 said:

https://x.com/mikethejet/status/1810722493071503760?s=46

“ he had no interest in signing an extension in CBJ, BUF, or WPG.“

The key word being "had," as in, past tense. In other words a trade & sign deal, if you will, wasn't going to happen and, therefore, was not beneficial to Columbus, Buffalo or Winnipeg.

[carpanfan96]

8 minutes ago, Anybodyhome said:

The key word being "had," as in, past tense. In other words a trade & sign deal, if you will, wasn't going to happen and, therefore, was not beneficial to Columbus, Buffalo or Winnipeg.

We pretty much know for sure that he killed a deal with Nashville. So that now makes four teams that he turned down being traded too so far. 

[organicrusty1201]

18 minutes ago, carpanfan96 said:

We pretty much know for sure that he killed a deal with Nashville. So that now makes four teams that he turned down being traded too so far. 

Winnepeg and Nashville will most likely be playoff teams - don't know what he is thinking, has he ever stated where he would like to go?

[carpanfan96]

2 hours ago, organicrusty1201 said:

Winnepeg and Nashville will most likely be playoff teams - don't know what he is thinking, has he ever stated where he would like to go?

Not that I’ve seen or heard about. 

[Anybodyhome]

To be honest, the only person to make any inference that he didn't want to be here was his dad. Martin has never said he didn't want to be here, nor has he mentioned anywhere else he wanted to play.

If his arbitration award is a 1-year deal, I expect Carolina will trade him at the TDL, depending on the season results. If he gets a 2-year deal, he may end up staying for a bit.

I, for one, don't have a problem giving him a shot playing 2C with Kuz on the wing. Keep Jarvy on the Aho line. I think Kuznetsov is a bigger scoring threat on the wing.

[Panthers Fan 69]

13 minutes ago, Anybodyhome said:

To be honest, the only person to make any inference that he didn't want to be here was his dad. Martin has never said he didn't want to be here, nor has he mentioned anywhere else he wanted to play.

If his arbitration award is a 1-year deal, I expect Carolina will trade him at the TDL, depending on the season results. If he gets a 2-year deal, he may end up staying for a bit.

I, for one, don't have a problem giving him a shot playing 2C with Kuz on the wing. Keep Jarvy on the Aho line. I think Kuznetsov is a bigger scoring threat on the wing.

My thoughts all along as well. 

[backINblack28]

2 hours ago, Anybodyhome said:

To be honest, the only person to make any inference that he didn't want to be here was his dad. Martin has never said he didn't want to be here, nor has he mentioned anywhere else he wanted to play.

If his arbitration award is a 1-year deal, I expect Carolina will trade him at the TDL, depending on the season results. If he gets a 2-year deal, he may end up staying for a bit.

I, for one, don't have a problem giving him a shot playing 2C with Kuz on the wing. Keep Jarvy on the Aho line. I think Kuznetsov is a bigger scoring threat on the wing.

I don't disagree with any of this. At the same time, I think he plays at odds with our system and you can see that sometimes it works out and is flashy (and therefore lends making it easier to say why don't we grant him a bigger role and/or more freedom) but sometimes, it lends to the exact things Rod tries to prevent (bad giveaways/odd man breaks/unnecessary turnovers).

Necas is still very young in the sense that he still has improvement in him even in the facets of his game he's best at.  I worry though here because it seems like he is putting us in a really tough place with negotiations which both lessens his value on open market and lessens his trade value.  The early rumors of not wanting to sign here don't really match up with him just turning down a possible extension with several other playoff teams.  If he doesn't know what he wants and can't be decisive about it then it gives no sides any leverage including teams trying to make calls about him.  Guentz may have strung us along and screwed us, but at least it's done and over with. 

I just want this to end so we know exactly where we stand. I don't love including him in an Ehlers trade, but if we're losing him anyway it would make sense. Just hard to feel like at this point any side is going to get the best of any deal cause it rarely improves for all parties as time goes on.

[carpanfan96]

4 hours ago, Anybodyhome said:

To be honest, the only person to make any inference that he didn't want to be here was his dad. Martin has never said he didn't want to be here, nor has he mentioned anywhere else he wanted to play.

If his arbitration award is a 1-year deal, I expect Carolina will trade him at the TDL, depending on the season results. If he gets a 2-year deal, he may end up staying for a bit.

I, for one, don't have a problem giving him a shot playing 2C with Kuz on the wing. Keep Jarvy on the Aho line. I think Kuznetsov is a bigger scoring threat on the wing.

I’m starting to think this is the case and he just wants a bigger role on the team. 

[Bullcityrebel]

I like Neccas too, I think he has amazing talent but my only gripe I have about him is that he shies away from contact. That becomes a problem at playoff time.

Assuming we sign both Neccas and Jarvis there still is a huge whole left in our top 6 and really no cap space to fill it with.