‘He’s never lacked confidence.’ How Martin Necas became the Hurricanes’ go-to player
Martin Necas may be the fastest skater in the National Hockey League.
Talk about wheels: When the Carolina Hurricanes winger starts moving those feet and gets in motion, he’s hard to catch. Add in his deceptive one-timers, quick wristers and darting wraparounds, in addition to his ability to make tape-to-tape passes, and he’s a pretty complete offensive player.
Canes teammate Cedric Paquette skated against Necas a year ago as a member of the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Saturday, Paquette had a front-row seat to watch Necas record four points against those same Lightning players.
“He’s been unreal,” Canes teammate Cedric Paquette said. “He’s got some skills, a crazy shot and he’s got the confidence right now.”
Necas had two power-play goals and two assists in the Canes’ 4-3 Central Division victory over the Lightning at PNC Arena. He was the game’s first star as the Canes (23-7-3) pulled within one point of the division-leading Lightning.
When center Vincent Trocheck went out of the lineup in early March with an upper-body injury that remains undisclosed, Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour had to be fretting, even if he didn’t talk about it publicly. The Canes already had lost forward Teuvo Teravainen, first to to COVID-19 and then a concussion. Then the veteran Trocheck, who had 13 goals, went down.
Trocheck might have been the Canes’ MVP to the point in the season when he went out, after the March 9 game against Nashville.
Necas might be the Canes’ MVP since then, good enough to warrant consideration when the NHL picks its three stars for the month of March.
Necas has seven goals and 10 assists in 13 games in March, and five of the goals and five assists have been in the eight games since Trocheck was injured. That’s called filling a void, and the former first-round draft pick has done it well, and with flair.
On the power play, Necas is like a quick-draw artist, getting off shots rapidly, with velocity. His winning goal Saturday with 3:53 left in the third period came on a whistling wrister from the top of the right circle that Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, the best in the business, had no chance of stopping.
“He’s never lacked confidence,” Brind’Amour said after Saturday’s game. “From day one, he’s been trying to make plays. We encourage it but now I think he has a better understanding of when and where to make plays.
“You can see it. He’s matured. Physically he’s a little stronger, which goes a long way to having your own confidence. I think it’s his maturity, physically. He’s always had the confidence.”
Necas grows up, adds strength
While Necas grows in many ways, two things he always had growing up in his natice Czech Republic are speed and quickness.
But not strength.
He began regimented conditioning and weight-training when he was 17, when he was about 5-8 and 137 pounds.
Now 22, he’s listed at 6-2 and 189 pounds. Still slender, but stronger, sturdier. No. 88 has grown up.
Necas was the 12th pick of the 2017 NHL Draft, playing in the Czech Extraliga for another season after making his NHL debut with Carolina in a cameo appearance. He chafed a bit when his first professional season in North America was spent mostly with the Charlotte Checkers in the American Hockey League, not the Canes.
But Necas, drafted as a center, was used on the wing with the Checkers in 2018-19 and was a big part of their Calder Cup championship run. In his first season with the Canes, in 2019-20, he had 16 goals and 20 assists in 64 games before the league’s coronavirus pause, then had a goal and three assists in eight postseason games.
Playing more alert hockey, playing harder in the defensive end, back-checking, and blocking shots, Necas earned Brind’Amour’s trust. And more minutes.
And here he is.
Asked Saturday about stepping in for Trocheck, Necas matter-of-factly explained that there was a need for a right-shot forward on the top power-play unit to replace Trocheck. He moved up from the second unit. That had him playing with Sebastian Aho. Soon he was on Aho’s line. That simple, to him.
With his speed and puck-handling, Necas is adept in zone entries. If a game goes to overtime, the three-on-three format and open ice give him more room to roam. He has nine goals and 19 assists in 30 games, and a plus-16 rating.
“I got on the first ‘PP’ which gives you a little more confidence and time on the ice,” Necas said. “I felt good. My teammates played great and I’ve been trying to keep up with them.”
Keep up with them? How about keeping up with Necas?
“He’s got all the skill in the world,” Aho said Saturday. “The way he skates is pretty impressive. Fun player to play with.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
