The Carolina Hurricanes have re-signed forward Martin Necas to a two-year contract worth $6M, or $3M per season, per a team release. Necas will earn $2.5M in 2022-23 and $3.5M in 2023-24.
Speaking on the transaction, Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell called Necas a “dynamic young playmaker,” saying “he has an elite combination of speed and skill and we think he’ll only continue to improve.”
After a career-best season in 2020-21, Necas wasn’t able to maintain his level of production and consistency in 2021-22. Necas finished the year with 14 goals and 40 points in 78 games, while he had similar production in just 56 games the season prior. The concern with Necas, though, is what role he’ll actually have with the team next season. With the team acquiring Max Pacioretty and youngster Seth Jarvis earning a good deal of minutes last season, Necas may lose out on a top-six spot if he doesn’t outperform Jarvis in training camp.
Although, $3M is still somewhat of a discount for a player who’s received top-six minutes in each of the last two seasons and boasts 40-plus-point upside. It was a necessary one for Carolina, as CapFriendly now projects the Hurricanes as being roughly $1.1M over the $82.5M upper limit. With defenseman Jake Gardiner likely healthy for next season, Carolina will need to make a trade to clear cap space prior to next season.
When Necas’ contract expires in 2024, he’ll remain a restricted free agent (with arbitration rights) and will be due a $3.5M qualifying offer, per PuckPedia. He will have two years of RFA eligibility remaining at that time.
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