Brind’Amour relents, lets teenagers play together

Rod Brind’Amour heard the question posed several times during the Carolina Hurricanes training camp:

What about having Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas on the same line?

Time and again, the Carolina Hurricanes coach would shrug and talk about how valuable it was to have young guys, especially rookies, especially teenage rookies, surrounded by older guys, and especially early in the season. In other words, he wasn’t ready to go there.

So with his first official game as head coach in the balance and the Canes trailing Thursday, what does Brind’Amour do? Move Svechnikov on to Necas’ line with Brock McGinn.

They weren’t on the ice when the Canes tied the score with 1:35 left in regulation, but Brind’Amour had Svechnikov, who was making his NHL debut, and Necas playing together late in the season opener against the New York Islanders, more than convinced they could handle it.

The Canes would lose 2-1 in overtime, in a game Brind’Amour believed his team had outplayed the Isles. Josh Bailey’s power-play goal at 43 seconds of OT decided it, quickly silencing the sellout crowd at PNC Arena.

With five rookie forwards in the lineup for the season opener, Brind’Amour hoped he would get a quick gauge of how they would respond. Svechnikov, Necas and Warren Foelege were active, noticeable, making plays. Valentin Zykov, and to an extent Lucas Wallmark, not so much.

Zykov, who started on the third line with Necas and McGinn, played just three shifts in the third period. The same for Wallmark as Brind’Amour went with three lines down the stretch. In contrast, Foegele had nine shifts in the third and Necas and Svechnikov six each.

Svechnikov’s selection as the No. 2 overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft has been much discussed by everyone from Canes owner Tom Dundon to Brind’Amour to Canes fans. The Russian has a certain poise and maturity about him at 18, and his game is about explosiveness and power.

Svechnikov twice had shots find the metal, near-misses. Another heavy shot struck Isles goalie Thomas Greiss in the mask.

Svechnikov started on the fourth line Thursday in his debut. That should change.

“I see that I’ve got to get him him out there more,” Brind’Amour said. “You can see the confidence building from day one in training camp to now. He wants the puck.

“There’s still management issues with the puck. All these young kids come in the league and think they can just dangle through everyone. But that’s what we have to teach them, where those times are to show show your skills and live to fight another day. But I was happy with him.”

Necas, the Canes’ first-round pick in 2017, is a completely different player than the lean kid who came to Canes’ rookie camp in the summer of 2017 and then training camp last fall. While he made the Canes roster last year and made his NHL debut in a road game against the Edmonton Oilers, Necas then returned to his native Czech Republic and benefited greatly from another year in the Extraliga.

Necas, 19, returned to Raleigh having played for his country in the IIHF World Championship, having spent the summer training and and coming into camp weighing 190 pounds while maintaining that quick first step and impressive swiftness on the ice.

About six minutes into the opener, with the Canes on the power play, Necas set up Svechnikov for a one-timer in the left circle, the puck banging off the post.

“Marty looked like he wasn’t afraid,” Brind’Amour said.

Before the opener, Necas talked of the excitement that this year, this game, this NHL experience would bring.

“It was always my dream, since I was 10 years old, and finally I’m here and I can’t wait to get started,” he said. “I feel more confident than last year. Not cocky, but confident and there’s a difference.

“It’s always hard for young players who come to the NHL, and especially play the first year at center. We’ll see how the season goes but I feel ready.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2018 at 11:54 PM.