Canes' Necas more polished and confident, ready to be in NHL this season

All eyes were on Andrei Svechnikov when the Carolina Hurricanes' prospects first took the ice Wednesday at PNC Arena.

But Martin Necas was the one quickly catching the eye of many observers.

Certainly the eye of Rod Brind'Amour, the Canes' new head coach.

The Hurricanes made Svechnikov the second overall pick of the NHL Entry Draft last week in Dallas, and the Russian forward has the looks, the skill, the presence of a would-be star.

But Necas, the Canes' first-round pick in 2017, has returned for his second prospect development camp bigger, with more polish to his game, with more self-assurance to his demeanor at age 19.

"There's certainly a huge difference, at least physically and maturity-wise," Brind'Amour said. "When he got here last year he was just a kid. I mean, he's still a kid but there's a major difference in him.

"This camp is not just what they do on the ice. They're not making the team based on this. But you watch him walk in the dressing room now and it's not 'What am I walking into?' It's just a comfort level. He goes on the ice and it's like 'This is normal.' He knows us and that's when you can get the kids to play, when they're confident and they're comfortable."

Brind'Amour paired Necas and Svechnikov together at times Wednesday in some four-on-four drills. The two played off each other well enough, and Necas said they're rooming together this week and already have formed an off-ice friendship.

Necas has one other opinion about Svechnikov: "I think he's NHL-ready."

But Necas feels the same way about himself, even if the center from the Czech Republic is not brash enough to say it quite that way.

"I feel like I'm better than last year," he said. "That's my goal, to make the team and make the opener."

Necas impressed the coaching staff and management with his speed and instinctive playmaking and was kept on the Canes' roster after preseason training camp last year along with rookie forward Janne Kuokkanen and defenseman Haydn Fleury. Kuokkanen and Fleury played in Carolina's season-opener, a 5-4 shootout win over Minnesota at PNC Arena, while Necas had to wait.

Necas made his NHL debut in the Canes' fourth game, Oct. 17 at Edmonton, in a 5-3 win. Not that was he was totally pleased.

"It was hard," he said. "I didn't play probably for more than two weeks. When I played a game I felt, I don't know what to say, a little bit tired because it was different that just practicing.

"It was a great experience. I enjoyed it. Like I said, I want to play every game here next season."

The decision was made by former general manager Ron Francis to send Necas back for another year with HC Kometa Brno in the Extraliga, Czech's top professional league. Necas made the most of it, also competing for the Czechs in the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, N.Y., and then with the national team in the World Championship in Denmark after the season.

"I just played my game," Necas said of the season. "I don't know, maybe I grew up a little."

Necas had three goals and eight assists in 11 games in the World Juniors, tying for the tournament scoring lead. And Brno won the league championship for a second straight year.

"He had a pretty good year," said Tony MacDonald, the Canes' director of amateur scouting. "Early on he did not play as much as much as he hoped to play, then was more of a factor and finished up at the World Championship and was very good there.

"He doesn't need to boost his stock with us. He has an exclamation point beside his name, as far as how good a player he is and we project him to be. In the game played today in the NHL, speed is the most important element. He has it and he's got the skill to go with it. It's a matter of him getting more man strength, and when he gets to 190 pounds he will be a force to be reckoned with."

Necas is closer. A year ago, he came to development camp listed at 6-1 and 178 pounds, lean and lanky. He has grown an inch and said he weighed in Wednesday at 189 pounds.

Could Necas and Svechnikov be used on the same line next season? Were they auditioning a bit Wednesday? Brind'Amour smiled.

"They're going to be teammates for a long time, at least that's what we hope," Brind'Amour said. "They're not stupid. They know they're going to be huge parts of this organization. I don't if we're going to play them together, don't know how all that's going to shake out. But they're here. Might as well take a look at it."

A look at the future.

This story was originally published June 27, 2018 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Canes' Necas more polished and confident, ready to be in NHL this season."