Is answer to Hurricanes’ need for more offense already on the roster? Who could it be?
The Carolina Hurricanes might be looking to add a scoring forward before next season, someone who can produce, say, 25 or more goals, be a finisher and put some pop in the lineup.
It could come from a trade. It could come in free agency.
But what if that player already is on the roster?
Martin Necas is a likable guy with an agreeable demeanor. That’s off the ice. On it, Necas’ critics say he’s not mean enough, a player with tons of speed and skill but one unwilling to do the dirty work in tough places.
When the 2021-22 season began, many believed Necas might have a breakout year. He was entering his third full NHL season and in the third year of his entry-level contract. He had scored 14 goals and had 41 points in 53 games in the condensed 2020-21 season, and something like a 60-point year with 20-plus goals seemed attainable for the Czechia native.
Didn’t happen.
“For me personally, it was like a step back from the last season,” Necas said this week.
Necas had 14 goals and 40 points in 78 games, and probably got as much attention for playing a golf round with singer Harry Styles before the season as he did for his play during the season. Including the 14 playoff games, he scored once in his last 30 games — the regular-season finale against New Jersey.
Necas had five assists in the playoffs as the Canes fell in the second round to the New York Rangers, and was so ineffective at times there was speculation he might be scratched.
“Obviously it was a disappointing season for me,” Necas said. “I just couldn’t get into it. I’ve got to help the team more, got to produce way more. That’s what everyone kind of expects from me, and I didn’t do it.”
Why? It would be easy to say Necas strained under the pressure of playing for a new contract.
“I was trying my best but sometimes it’s not going your way,” he said. “And then confidence is a big thing in hockey. I don’t know. Maybe it was too much in my head. I was thinking ‘You’ve got to get on the scoresheet’ and it wasn’t happening much.
“It was a tough season but next year is a new year and I’m going to have a great summer and get ready for that.”
Preparation is one thing. A restricted free agent, Necas and the team must also come to terms on a contract.
“I would love to stay,” Necas said. “We’ve got to figure everything out this summer. I hope it will end good for both ways and I’ll be here next year.”
Left unsaid: if the two sides can’t figure it out, Necas could be somewhere else next season.
The Canes made Necas the 12th pick of the 2017 NHL draft, bringing in the slender forward who could be blur on the ice and had some slick moves and sick hands.
After making his NHL debut with the Canes in 2017-18, he was sent back home to the Czech Extraliga. He played seven games with Carolina the next season and was assigned to the Charlotte Checkers, then the Canes’ American Hockey League affiliate.
Drafted as a center, he played the wing in Charlotte. He also was a part of a championship team when the Checkers won the 2019 Calder Cup.
Necas never hit a good stride this season. He played right wing on different lines. His minutes varied. Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour used him on the power play, and at times as a penalty killer, but at other times kept him on the bench.
“Me and Roddy, we’ve got to trust each other a little more,” Necas said. “I’ve got to show him I can play in those minutes when it really matters, and that’s what I would like to play.
“It was tough. I was going in the lineup like up and down. I had my chances but it was hard for me to get going.”
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Necas’ media interview Thursday came soon after his one-on-one meeting with Brind’Amour, which included a discussion about possibly playing center, and his “trust” comment quickly caught Brind’Amour’s attention when it was mentioned later Thursday.
“It’s good he got the message,” Brind’Amour said. “When you go back to the year you’re always expecting to get better and we expected better things from him and it didn’t happen for him, for whatever reason. It’s on me and my job to get him to play to his best and he didn’t. So I’ve got to figure that out, but he knows he’s got to be better.”
