Getty The Vancouver Canucks are linked to a potential trade with Martin Necas.
The Vancouver Canucks have been linked to trading for Carolina Hurricanes winger Martin Necas.
Necas is a pending restricted free agent and has been the subject of trade rumors since Carolina was eliminated from the playoffs. With Necas a pending RFA after completing his two-year $6 million deal, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman believes the Canucks and Hurricanes have mutual interest in a potential trade.
“The [Martin] Nečas one is a big one… I think there’s something to Vancouver. I think the Canucks like the player, I don’t think they’re the only ones.”
@FriedgeHNIC on the #CauseChaos forward’s market with @JeffMarek. #Canucks
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“The Necas one is a big one, I got a call this morning, I think there is something to this, I’m sure they are not the only ones, but I think there is something to Vancouver, I do, I think the Canucks like the player, like I said, I don’t think they are the only ones, Carolina is going to have some options, but you heard about Patrick Alvin talking about what they were looking at,” Friedman said on The Jeff Mark show.
“Necas from a pure hockey point of view forgetting the contract for a second because Vancouver has some hoops they have to jump through, I could see that fit, I can and I do think it is something the Canucks are at least looking at,” Friedman continued.
As Friedman points out, however, Vancouver does have some trouble with the cap they must figure out first.
According to CapFriendly, the Canucks enter the offseason with over $23 million in cap space. But, they have several pending free agents including Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Tyler Myers, Filip Hronek, and Sam Lafferty among others.
Canucks Discussed Necas Trade During Season
Vancouver being interested in Necas is nothing new, as the Canucks and Hurricanes discussed a potential deal involving the winger before the trade deadline.
Before Vancouver re-signed Elias Pettersson to an eight-year $92.5 million deal, the Swede was linked to a potential trade if an extension didn’t happen. Before the extension happened, Friedman says Pettersson was in talks to be traded to Carolina with Necas being part of the return.
“Remember when all that Pettersson drama hit about whether he was going to sign or not sign and Vancouver talked with Carolina? Necas was in that deal,” Friedman said, via Sportsnet. “I wonder if there’s a Necas deal to be made there with Vancouver. Carolina’s got a lot of D they need to sign, what if they look at someone like (Filip) Hronek making more sense for them? That’s the kind of thing I’m wondering about now.”
With Pettersson now re-signed, the Canucks will need to have a different trade package to acquire Necas, but Friedman expects
Necas’ Father Wants His Son Traded
After Carolina was eliminated in the playoffs by the New York Rangers, Necas’ father Martin did an interview in their home country of Czech and claimed his son wanted to be traded.
I’ll be very surprised if Martin Necas plays for Carolina in the next season. As his dad said, Martin wants to play in 1st line & 1st PP unit. His dad even said in an interview for @DenikSport: ,,Martin wants to be traded.” In my eyes, Necas is a great offensive winger.
The news caught many by surprise, and during their end-of-season media availability, then Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell told the media to say hi to Necas’ dad for him.
Don Waddell might be my favorite general manager in all of sports, for the man has no chill. First he gives us the fire content on Jarvis, and now…. he responds to the drama surrounding Martin Necas and his dad, saying “say hi to his dad for me” 💀💀💀
#CauseChaos #Canes
This past season, Necas recorded 24 goals and 29 assists for 53 points in 77 games. In the playoffs, the winger recorded 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points in 11 games.
Necas has been a member of the Hurricanes since 2017 after he was selected 12th overall by Carolina in the 2017 NHL draft.