Anyone notice Martin Necas's start?

[Discipline Daddy]

1 of about 50 players having an unsustainable hot start?

Certainly. He's on pace for 148 points. He's not Connor McNecas.

But he is poised to have a PPG-territory year, which is excellent value for $6.5M. Most importantly, he looks engaged. He's doing his thing. He still has a high risk/reward ratio of making some turnovers do to his speed and puck handling. But he is still playing better defensively according to the eye test from what I've seen, and his oopses are worth it when he's scoring so much.

It's wild also that he's having so much even strength success playing with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Eric Robinson. The guy isn't leeching points off of more skilled players.

 

[TheBigLetowski]

Certainly. He's on pace for 148 points. He's not Connor McNecas.

But he is poised to have a PPG-territory year, which is excellent value for $6.5M. Most importantly, he looks engaged. He's doing his thing. He still has a high risk/reward ratio of making some turnovers do to his speed and puck handling. But he is still playing better defensively according to the eye test from what I've seen, and his oopses are worth it when he's scoring so much.

It's wild also that he's having so much even strength success playing with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Eric Robinson. The guy isn't leeching points off of more skilled players.

If he could have a legit 2C and complimentary winger on the same line with him, I don't see him slowing down. Says a lot he's doing this with his current linemates.

 

[LuckyPierre]

Has been said already by others, but when watching the Canes over the past few years, he’s been the most visibly dominant forward to me.

 

[PaulD]

He was always one of those guys that was among the most noticeable on the ice in any game that he played.

Just a question of whether the points matched up with his speed and skill.

I used to get Ehlers vibes from him - not sure if that’s valid or not.

I think he is better.

 

[cptjeff]

But he is still playing better defensively according to the eye test from what I've seen, and his oopses are worth it when he's scoring so much.

FWIW, Rod made the point postgame last night that a lot of the crazy high risk stuff he used to do a lot isn't happening right now. He's taking risks, but good ones.

I don't think Necas will ever be or should ever even try to be an actual defensive player. But making huge mistakes in high leverage situations was always a major flaw, and when he wasn't scoring, they were magnified.

Right now, he's scoring *and* he's not making those mistakes. Best of both worlds, and if he keeps this up, he will be a genuine major star in this league.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

FWIW, Rod made the point postgame last night that a lot of the crazy high risk stuff he used to do a lot isn't happening right now. He's taking risks, but good ones.

I don't think Necas will ever be or should ever even try to be an actual defensive player. But making huge mistakes in high leverage situations was always a major flaw, and when he wasn't scoring, they were magnified.

Right now, he's scoring *and* he's not making those mistakes. Best of both worlds, and if he keeps this up, he will be a genuine major star in this league.

This.

Necas has elite speed, stick handling, wrist shot and is also a really good passer. He think offense all the time. He's not exactly terrible at defense but it's not in his DNA. He has an extremely high motor so in that sense it's not like he floats or gives up on plays it's just that he's always leaning towards offense.

His one man gambits that would end up as turnovers and odd man rushes the other way needed to stop happening and it seems like he's buying into the team mentality a bit more and the results are evident.

Necas is the most skilled player the Canes have by a ton and that's not to say Aho, Svech, and Jarvis aren't high skilled but Necas is legit on another level in that sense. I think it's a combination of Necas playing more team oriented but also Rod letting loose on the reigns a bit and letting him do his thing without fear or hesitation.

We will see about consistency over the course of the season but right now Necas is just playing to his full potential. No one is expecting 150 points but he absolutely has 100 point talent.

 

[My3Sons]

He's playing quite well and is very talented. I'm not sure why the Canes were reluctant to meet whatever asking price he had for a long term deal? The contract he signed sort of set up Carolina to have a tough choice next season.

 

[BKarchitect]

Necas and Ehlers on their “remember us?” tours this season.

 

[BusQuets]

Would be great for Carolina finally have someone helping Aho. Feels like it has been only Aho and bunch of 2nd and 3rd liners last 4 seasons. Let's see if this is hot start or legit start of something great.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

He's playing quite well and is very talented. I'm not sure why the Canes were reluctant to meet whatever asking price he had for a long term deal? The contract he signed sort of set up Carolina to have a tough choice next season.

There's never been any doubt from the org or fanbase about Necas talent or ability. There has been questions about his commitment to team play and on ice awareness.

The Canes have been without a truly offensive star for well... almost forever but I guess you would be going back to the Eric Staal days. What we are seeing out of Necas right now is the type of play and results we have been hoping for so we never WANTED to deal him or only do bridge contracts but we also couldn't just give out an 8 year big boy money extension without him showing that he could put everything together.

if he keeps it up the Canes will happily pay him what he's worth.

 

[tarheelhockey]

It's wild also that he's having so much even strength success playing with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Eric Robinson. The guy isn't leeching points off of more skilled players.

This has been a question for a while on the Canes board, but I don’t think it really matters much who Necas skates with. He’s not a guy to tic-tac-toe with his linemates, more of a guy who just looks for a gap in the defense and goes for it.

Not exactly a coach’s dream, but this works out nicely for the Canes in the line-matching game. They can stack the top line and force defensive attention to Aho/Svech/Jarvis, which leaves Necas to take advantage of weaker defenders. When he’s on his game that gives them some nice scoring depth — of course, when he goes cold it has the opposite effect.

 

[My3Sons]

There's never been any doubt from the org or fanbase about Necas talent or ability. There has been questions about his commitment to team play and on ice awareness.

The Canes have been without a truly offensive star for well... almost forever but I guess you would be going back to the Eric Staal days. What we are seeing out of Necas right now is the type of play and results we have been hoping for so we never WANTED to deal him or only do bridge contracts but we also couldn't just give out an 8 year big boy money extension without him showing that he could put everything together.

if he keeps it up the Canes will happily pay him what he's worth.

That makes sense. These bigger contracts are tricky. Wings have a tougher time becoming one of the truly core guys with the top centers and top line defenders.

 

[VanIsle]

Sure did, picked him up in the 9th round of our group of 12 players in a live hockey pool, I couldn't beleive he was that far down. . . . .

Great start . . . .

 

[Czechboy]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1853497946358038623

 

[cptjeff]

He's playing quite well and is very talented. I'm not sure why the Canes were reluctant to meet whatever asking price he had for a long term deal? The contract he signed sort of set up Carolina to have a tough choice next season.

They were reluctant because Necas has historically been an extremely streaky player offensively and consistently turned the puck over in high leverage situations and gave opposing teams high danger chances. Historically he has had major, major flaws to his game, especially for a team like Carolina with an aggressive defense where forwards often find themselves handling the puck under pressure with nobody between them and the goalie. He's consistently been a huge liability for not just turnovers but very, very bad turnovers, and his offense has been nowhere near consistent enough to make up for it. He was a major agent of chaos and has gone through stretches where that's actively harmed the team.

What you're seeing right now is a guy who seems to be finally getting his head screwed on straight, but there was no guarantee that that would happen, nor is there any guarantee that it will continue for the rest of the year. Hence the 2 year deal, and the 2 year deal before the current one. Teams don't like to commit long term to guys who haven't shown that consistency.

 

[Suntouchable13]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1853497946358038623

Sandwiched in between two legends that are turning back the clock. Nice!

 

[My3Sons]

They were reluctant because Necas has historically been an extremely streaky player offensively and consistently turned the puck over in high leverage situations and gave opposing teams high danger chances. Historically he has had major, major flaws to his game, especially for a team like Carolina with an aggressive defense where forwards often find themselves handling the puck under pressure with nobody between them and the goalie. He's consistently been a huge liability for not just turnovers but very, very bad turnovers, and his offense has been nowhere near consistent enough to make up for it. He was a major agent of chaos and has gone through stretches where that's actively harmed the team.

What you're seeing right now is a guy who seems to be finally getting his head screwed on straight, but there was no guarantee that that would happen, nor is there any guarantee that it will continue for the rest of the year. Hence the 2 year deal, and the 2 year deal before the current one. Teams don't like to commit long term to guys who haven't shown that consistency.

That's fair. NJ had their own version of that with Mercer. After he scored 27 goals and nearly 60 points in his second season I think they saw him as a core player. Then last season happened. He still scored 20 but struggled (as did the entire team). They signed him for three seasons so he will have that last RFA year left at the end to work out a longer term deal. If Necas continues his excellent play Carolina can always approach him this offseason to extend.

On some level this highlights just how tough it is to play in the NHL these days. It's so much faster and more sophisticated than it has been in the past. Guys need to be able to act decisively at top speed which is difficult for all but the very best players.

 

[jackjohnson]

Trading Petterson for him and signing Lindholm seems awfully appealing right now...

Yeah, we would have signed both for 15 mil instead of giving pettersson 11.5 mil

Debrusk-Miller-Boeser
Necas-Lindholm-Garland

That would have been an awesome top 6.

 

[57special]

No, he has mastered the art of Ninjitsu, making his feats undetectable to all but the most trained of observers.

 

[TheBigLetowski]

Yeah, we would have signed both for 15 mil instead of giving pettersson 11.5 mil

Debrusk-Miller-Boeser
Necas-Lindholm-Garland

That would have been an awesome top 6.

Interesting to think how each team would look today if Necas was traded in a package for EP.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

He's playing quite well and is very talented. I'm not sure why the Canes were reluctant to meet whatever asking price he had for a long term deal? The contract he signed sort of set up Carolina to have a tough choice next season.

He wanted out. The two year deal was a compromise to see if the relationship could be repaired.

 

[My3Sons]

He wanted out. The two year deal was a compromise to see if the relationship could be repaired.

I'm curious why he wanted out? I do recall some posturing about wanting to play center but you never know what's really going on behind the scenes. The Canes are a top team, he's having success there, and with a modest state income tax and a middle of the road cost of living his money will go a bit further there than in many other hockey markets.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

I'm curious why he wanted out?

He wasn't happy with his usage last year, where he spent most of the year in the bottom 6 and on PP2. That isn't the case this year

 

[My3Sons]

He wasn't happy with his usage last year, where he spent most of the year in the bottom 6 and on PP2. That isn't the case this year

That makes sense. The old play me or trade me chestnut. He should be happy now.

 

[jackjohnson]

Interesting to think how each team would look today if Necas was traded in a package for EP.

This was a legit rumour that had a high likelyhood of happening if Petersson refused to sign and Canes wanted a legit top 6 center. In fact due to this rumour, Petersson decided to re-sign with Canucks.