Latest news with #MartinNecas
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Could Winnipeg Target Pending Free Agent Martin Necas?
Insider reports indicate the Avalanche feeling forward Martin Necas may not re-sign and could look to deal him. The 2026 NHL free agent class is shaping up to be one of the most star-studded in league history. Unless top names re-sign before hitting the open market, this group could bring major changes across the league. Superstars like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and Artemi Panarin are expected to headline the class, and fans around the league are already imagining what it would be like to see one of these elite players join their team. For Winnipeg Jets fans, one name stands out as a realistic and intriguing option: Colorado Avalanche winger Martin Necas. The 26-year-old has become a steady 70 to 80-point producer with room to grow. Standing 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing nearly 200 pounds, he is a force on the ice. His powerful stride and strong frame have led analysts like Spittin' Chiclets' Ryan Whitney to describe him as a "horse on skates." Former Jets Captain Blake Wheeler Announces Retirement Former Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler has announced his retirement from professional hockey. Drafted 12th overall in 2017, Necas has delivered in key moments. He recorded 13 points in 18 playoff games in 2019 and added five points during Colorado's recent seven-game series against Dallas, proving he can contribute when the pressure is highest. Necas is entering the final year of a two-year bridge deal that carries a cap hit of $6.5 million, which is considered team-friendly given his production. With the Avalanche starting to shed depth players in cost-cutting moves, such as trading Miles Wood and Charlie Coyle to Columbus for a prospect and two draft picks, Colorado may be open to moving Necas to restock their prospect pool and draft capital. There have also been reports suggesting that the Avalanche are concerned Necas may choose to explore free agency rather than re-signing. This presents an opportunity for Winnipeg. The Jets have a deep prospect pool and valuable picks that could be used in a trade. Acquiring Necas would fill a key need, providing a top-six winger who could immediately slot in on the top line next to Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. A long-term extension for Necas is expected to be in the range of $9 to $10 million per season, a figure Winnipeg can fit into their current cap structure. Necas may ultimately decide to remain in Colorado and compete for another Stanley Cup, but he could also find a great fit in Winnipeg, where he would play a leading role on a team with championship aspirations. Winnipeg Inks Six-Year Extension With Gabe Vilardi The Winnipeg Jets have agreed to terms on a six-year extension with Gabe Vilardi.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Carolina Hurricanes Release 2025-26 Schedule
The Carolina Hurricanes' 2025-26 schedule is finally here, so let's take a look at some key items on it. The Canes will start the year at home, hosting the New Jersey Devils at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Lenovo Center. They'll play one more game against the Philadelphia Flyers before embarking on a six-game, two-week road trip to avoid the annual NC State Fair. The Canes will play all divisional opponents four times, except for the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders. Every year, it rotates between which divisional opponents an NHL team plays one less than the others. Here's the games between the other teams in the Metro: CBJ - (H: Dec. 9, April 2 / R: March 17, March 31) NJD - (H: Oct. 9, March 28 / R: Jan. 4, Jan. 17) NYI - (H: Oct. 30, April 4 / R: April 14) NYR - (H: Nov. 26, Dec. 29 / R: Nov. 4, Feb. 5) PHI - (H: Oct. 11, Dec. 14/ R: Dec. 13, April 13) PIT - (H: March 10, March 18/ R: Dec. 30, March 22) WSH - (H: Nov. 11/ R: Dec. 11, Jan. 31) Carolina has 15 sets of back-to-backs on the schedule, the same amount they had last season. Their record in those games was 16-14-0 overall, 8-7-0 in the first game and 8-7-0 in the second game. Here's how the back-to-backs breakdown based on travel:Home and Away - 5Away and Home - 3Home and Home - 3Away and Away - 4 Pre-Thanksgiving/Black Friday Home Games - Nov. 26 vs. NYR; Nov. 28 vs. WPG Christmas Eve-Eve Game - Dec. 23 vs. FLA New Year's Day Game - Jan. 1 vs. MTL Olympic Break - Feb. 6-22Return to Action - Feb. 26 vs. TBL Return Games Martin Necas, Jack Drury and Brent Burns - Jan. 3 Mikko Rantanen - Jan. 6 Dmitry Orlov - Dec. 7 The Hurricanes only have one homestand longer than three games this season. Nov. 26-Dec. 9: Seven Games They'll play at least three games at home four times. The other three instances are: Nov. 11-15 Dec. 23-29 Jan. 6-10 The Canes will be on the road for three games or more in a row six times. Their longest road stretches are: Oct. 14-25: Six Games Nov. 17-23: Four Games March 2-7: Four Games April 9-14: Four Games In fact, the team will play 15 of their final 25 games on the road from their return from the Olympic break to the end of the regular season. The Hurricanes will host three Friday evening games, 10 Saturday games and five Sunday games. The rest of the weekly breakdown is as follows: Mon - 2 Tues - 8 Wed - 2 Thur - 11 Typically, most games start at 7 p.m. EST, but here's the list of games with non-traditional start times: Oct. 14 @ SJS - 10 p.m. Oct. 16 @ ANA - 10 p.m. Oct. 18 @ LAK - 8 p.m. Oct. 20 @ VGK - 10 p.m. Oct. 23 @ COL - 9 p.m. Oct. 25 @ DAL - 8 p.m. Oct. 28 vs. VGK - 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1 @ BOS - 1 p.m. Nov. 19 @ MIN - 9:30 p.m. Nov. 21 @ WPG - 8 p.m. Nov. 23 @ BUF - 1 p.m. Nov. 28 vs. WPG - 5 p.m. Nov. 20 vs. CGY - 5 p.m. Dec. 7 vs. SJS - 5 p.m. Dec. 14 vs. PHI - 5 p.m. Dec. 17 @ NSH - 8 p.m. Jan. 13 @ STL - 8 p.m. Jan. 19 vs. BUF - 1:30 p.m. Jan. 31 @ WSH - 5 p.m. Feb. 1 vs. LAK - 3 p.m. March 2 @ SEA - 10 p.m. March 4 @ VAN - 10 p.m. March 6 @ EDM - 9 p.m. March 7 @ CGY - 10 p.m. March 22 @ PIT - 3 p.m. March 28 vs. NJD - 5 p.m. March 29 vs. MTL - 5 p.m. April 5 @ OTT - 5 p.m. April 9 @ CHI - 8:30 p.m. April 11 @ UTA - 5 p.m. Recent Stories • 'I'm Very Excited About The Team In Carolina': Nikolaj Ehlers On Signing In Carolina• Hurricanes Target Positional Depth In Opening Days of Free Agency• Where Have Last Year's Carolina Hurricanes Ended Up?• Carolina Takes Big Swing On Talented New York Blueliner• 'Our Goal Is To Keep Getting Better And Raising The Bar': Eric Tulsky On Opening Day Of Free Agency• 'The Last Two Years, It Wasn't Easy For Me Mentally': Dmitry Orlov Voices Potential Displeasures With Carolina After Signing In San Jose• Hurricanes Sign Another RFA, Only 3 Remain Unsigned Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.
New York Times
03-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NHL contract grades: Nikolaj Ehlers is the perfect fit for the Hurricanes at a fair price
Winger Nikolaj Ehlers signs a six-year deal with an $8.5 million AAV with the Carolina Hurricanes. Dom Luszczyszyn: It's difficult to think of a less surprising free agent signing in recent memory than Carolina signing Ehlers. It feels like the Hurricanes have quietly longed for a player exactly like Ehlers — fast, dynamic, creative, chaotic — for a while now. A true game-breaker, but one who isn't a liability without the puck. In Ehlers, they finally have it. Advertisement For both player and team, this is a perfect fit. Ehlers is a unique talent as someone who can heavily drive play with the puck on his stick and bring it up and through all three zones with extreme regularity. He's a potential star player, a guy who can bring the offensive oomph on every shift. He's the kind of talent missing on the Hurricanes, especially since the team moved Martin Necas. Where Ehlers differs (and excels) is that there's a lot more substance beyond his production, especially without the puck. He can hold his own defensively in a way that Necas could not, and for a defensive team like Carolina, that's a big deal. Same flash, more cash. For Ehlers, the Hurricanes offer a big opportunity for him to finally show how valuable he can be. For too long in Winnipeg, Ehlers has been shoved to the periphery in terms of usage. That shouldn't be the case in Carolina. That's a big part of what makes the acquisition so tantalizing. An $8.5 million cap hit is a fair price for what Ehlers currently is as a guy who plays second-line minutes. Give him a bit more responsibility and watch him take off. Over the last three years, Ehlers is 17th in five-on-five points-per-60 between Elias Pettersson and Jesper Bratt. If he can translate that in bigger minutes, he can be a $10 million player. That's the value bet Carolina is making here and if the downside is that Ehlers can't play more (and that his previous coaches were right), then he'll still be worth his deal. That takes a bit of the risk off. In the regular season, anyway. One of the problems with Ehlers is that he hasn't been a consistent playoff performer, which makes some sense given his size and being a bit of a perimeter rush threat. To his credit, Ehlers was much stronger during the 2025 playoffs, but it'll take a lot more than that to prove his doubters wrong. Advertisement The Hurricanes likely believe Ehlers' playoff resume is more small-sample-size randomness than anything, willing to take the bet that he's the game-breaker they've been looking for. Whether that's the case or not remains to be seen, but for now, this looks like a solid deal for a perfect fit, one we all could've predicted before July 1. Next to a talented center like Sebastian Aho, there's a good chance Ehlers can really thrive. Contract grade: B+ Fit grade: A Shayna Goldman: The Hurricanes were in a pretty unique position for a contender, with a ton of trade assets and cap space to work with this summer. And general manager Eric Tulsky has made the most with that, between the K'Andre Miller trade, Logan Stankoven extension, and now signing one of the top free agents of the summer in Ehlers. When Carolina disappointed in the Eastern Conference final against the Panthers, the system came under fire. But maybe the system isn't the problem — it was a lack of high-end skill behind Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, and Jaccob Slavin. That's a big part of what separates the Canes and Panthers. Enter, Ehlers. If you had to design a Hurricane forward in a lab, Stankoven and Jarvis would probably be the result. But a forward group can't all play one style; it helps to have more versatility up front, and Ehlers adds that with his creativity. He is a puck-moving force who can transition up the ice and thread crafty passes to his teammates. And he has a pretty effective shot, too. While there are some flaws to his game, between his risk-taking and the fact that he isn't a defensive ace, the Jets haven't trusted him enough in recent years. Maybe there is a reason behind that deployment and the Hurricanes are about to find out. But Carolina has a lot of structure and two-way talent to negate any shortcomings that Ehlers brings to the table. These kinds of gambles don't always pan out — the Mikko Rantanen situation was the prime example of that. But it doesn't mean management should stop swinging, either. The Canes should be able to maximize Ehlers' dynamic ability and add a much-needed spark up front. Advertisement An $8.5 million cap hit comes in just ahead of his market value and Evolving-Hockey's six-year projection (that carried an $8.2 million cap hit). But with more trust and top-line deployment, it should unlock his value in Raleigh. Even if it doesn't, and the 2024-25 version of Ehlers is what the Canes are getting, the high price is still manageable. If a team is going to overspend anywhere, it should be on star-caliber players. Ehlers has the potential to get to that level. It's a pretty penny to spend this much on a player who doesn't exactly fix the most glaring gap on this team, the 2C position, but Ehlers' presence should help. Stankoven should get a look there over Jesperi Koktaniemi, but if he can't shake it, the Canes can try to load up on the wings to balance out that weakness. Between Andrei Svechnikov, Jarvis, Stankoven, Taylor Hall, and now Ehlers, that looks a lot more possible. Contract grade: A- Fit grade: A
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
3 best trade destinations for Avalanche's Martin Necas
The post 3 best trade destinations for Avalanche's Martin Necas appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Colorado Avalanche have a lot of questions to answer as they approach the NHL offseason with a limited salary cap. Most notably, the Avalanche have just five defenseman signed for this coming season and two forwards who will be free agents after the 2025-26 season. Martin Necas is one of them, and if the Avs cannot re-sign him, they may need to find some good trade destinations for him. Advertisement After losing to the Dallas Stars in the first round, Colorado needs a good offseason. No, the Avalanche don't need a roster overhaul. Had they played anyone else, they might have advanced. Yet, it still stands that the Avs bowed out in the first round. Necas is one of those players, along with Charlie Coyle, who will be free agents after the season. If the Avalanche are unable to extend Necas, they must find some teams that would be willing to trade for him. Significantly, there are many teams that have an interest. But three teams specifically would make good trade destinations for the Colorado forward. Martin Necas would be a top-six talent in Motor City © Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Necas had a great season, scoring a combined 27 goals and 56 assists for the Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes. Specifically, he had 11 goals and 17 assists over 30 games for Colorado. Necas got off to a hot start with the Avalanche after coming over in the trade from the Hurricanes. Those stats make him valuable for a team that desires that scoring. Significantly, the Detroit Red Wings are one of those teams. Advertisement The Red Wings are looking to have a big free agency, especially with all the big-time players available. However, if they cannot persuade someone like Mitch Marner to come to Detroit, they could always swing a trade. In this case, Detroit could be one of the best trade destinations for Necas. The Wings are looking for top-six scoring talent. Notably, Lucas Raymond led the Red Wings with 27 goals and 53 assists. Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat were next with 70 points. Assuming they lose Patrick Kane to free agency, Detroit could make a trade for a player like Necas. He could pair on the first line with Larkin or the second line with DeBrincat. Additionally, he could play on the first power play. A Necas trade would make sense for both teams. For the Avalanche, they could net a high-end prospect, Anton Johansson, Jonatan Berggren, and a first-round pick. This would also help shed salary for next season. Avalanche could trade him to New Jersey The Avs could also send Necas to New Jersey. If he were to play with the Devils, he would get a chance to play alongside Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier. Specifically, he would likely slot in on the second line alongside Hischier. Necas would also play in front of the net on the first power play. Advertisement The Avalanche would also get a hefty return in this deal. Ultimately, the goal would be to get a high-tempo, skilled core player along with a first-round pick and Dawson Mercer. This would give Colorado a veteran player and an extra pick for future considerations. It would also give Necas a chance to go back to the Eastern Conference and an opportunity to face his former team four times per season. This trade would help both teams and also give the Avalanche some cap relief while also netting a valuable return. Anaheim is one of the best trade destinations One cannot forget about the Anaheim Ducks. After signing Joel Quenneville to be their head coach, the Ducks are all in and determined to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Necas would instantly make the Ducks a playoff team. He would give them a top-six scorer who has playoff experience. Additionally, he would make others around him better. Necas would instantly make the first line with Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson, and would be one of the most dangerous lines in the NHL. Necas could also improve the power play. One thing that the Ducks struggled with in 2024-25 was scoring on the power play. Getting Necas would help immensely with that. Advertisement The Ducks could logistically send Pavel Mintyukov and a 2025 first-round pick. It would give the Avalanche the last defender they sorely need and also some cap relief as Mintyukov is still on a rookie deal. Additionally, it would give the Ducks more balance and allow them to play Drew Helleson consistently next season. Anaheim would be one of the best trade destinations for Necas because he would be under the tutelage of one of the best coaches of all time and have a chance to guide a new team to the playoffs. Related: 4 best trade destinations for Ducks' John Gibson Related: NHL rumors: Pierre LeBrun names Connor McDavid 'shortlist' if he ever leaves Oilers
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Martin Necas' uncertain future sparks big questions for Hurricanes and Avalanche
Martin Necas' uncertain future sparks big questions for Hurricanes and Avalanche (Image via Getty) Martin Necas is a talented forward for the Carolina Hurricanes. Recently, his name has come up in trade talks with the Colorado Avalanche. But it seems Necas isn't too happy about the idea. According to recent reports, he is not too interested in joining Colorado. With contract talks coming up, the Hurricanes may have to make a big decision very soon. Martin Necas not fully interested in Colorado move On Monday, June 3, 2025, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman shared on his podcast 32 Thoughts that Martin Necas 'wasn't overly thrilled' with the idea of joining the Colorado Avalanche. Friedman spoke about this while discussing trade rumors involving Necas and Colorado. This talk began after several reports suggested that the Avalanche had shown interest in acquiring the 25-year-old forward from the Carolina Hurricanes. However, Friedman said on his show that Necas might prefer a different location. He said, 'I heard he wasn't overly thrilled about Colorado. He wants to explore all his options before committing anywhere.' The NHL offseason is the time when teams look to reshape their rosters. For Colorado, this could be a setback if Necas is not open to joining them. The Avalanche now need to think carefully before making a trade offer or starting contract talks. You can listen to the original report on 32 Thoughts Podcast: Also Read: Insider reveals Martin Necas rumored to be unhappy with Colorado Avalanche after big trade Uncertainty over Martin Necas extension talks this summer Martin Necas' uncertain future sparks big questions for Hurricanes and Avalanche Martin Necas is a restricted free agent (RFA) this summer. He just finished his season with Carolina in May 2025 after the Hurricanes were eliminated by the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs' second round. Now, contract extension talks are expected to begin soon. If talks between Necas and Carolina don't go well, the team may look to trade him. But with reports saying he's not keen on Colorado, they'll have to consider other teams. According to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun, other NHL teams have also shown interest, and Carolina is likely to keep its options open. In a quote shared by LeBrun on June 4, 2025, one NHL executive said: 'He's a great player, but if the fit isn't right, Carolina has to think big picture. No one wants to force a trade if the player isn't excited about it.' With free agency approaching on July 1, 2025, a final decision will need to be made soon. If the Hurricanes and Necas cannot agree, and Colorado is not a favored destination, a new suitor may emerge for the young forward.
