Will Martin Necas be with the Hurricanes next season?

The Carolina Hurricanes entered the offseason with a lot of questions, and answered the biggest one swiftly by locking in head coach Rod Brind’Amour on a new contract, but there still looms uncertainty with restricted free agent Martin Necas, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

“Necas, 25, is a restricted free agent July 1 and I absolutely believe he would welcome a change of scenery out of Carolina,” LeBrun wrote. “I think this has been the case for a while now, in fact.”

Martin Necas’ father made comments to Czech media Denik Sport, complaining about his son’s usage with the Hurricanes and indicating that he wants a trade. While the father and son are not always aligned, LeBrun believes that is likely the case here. Necas was playing with Czechia in the IIHF World Championship at the time and won gold. Necas spoke on his impending restricted free agency.

“We’ll see what’s going to happen,” Necas said to Aaron Vickers of NHL.com, according to LeBrun. “I don’t really care right now. What’s going to happen is going to happen. My agent is going to deal with that. We’re going to figure it out. Now I’m going to celebrate this medal and I’m going to enjoy it for a while.”

It seems unlikely that Necas will sign a long-term deal with the Hurricanes, so it will be interesting to see how the organization handles the situation.

What will the Hurricanes do with Martin Necas?

Given the perceived likelihood that Necas does not sign a long-term contract with the Hurricanes, it would seem logical for them to trade his rights at some point this offseason. The Hurricanes had Necas in their offer for Elias Pettersson from the Vancouver Canucks, and that deal of course did not happen. Petterson extended with Vancouver. Necas was also part of the package that Carolina offered the Calgary Flames in the summer of 2022 for Matthew Tkachuk.

So the Hurricanes are comfortable with putting Necas in trade talks. However, they still do understand that there is the potential for a star player with a bigger role, and if he is on the roster next season, they have a plan to put more on his plate, according to LeBrun. But the Hurricanes have had a number of calls in the past week inquiring about Necas after his father’s comments, so it is not out of the question that he gets traded.

It will be interesting to see if Necas signs back with the Hurricanes, or if he gets traded. Carolina will try to extend this championship window, and getting a good return for Necas could be the road to take with a lot of players scheduled to be free agents this summer.