[Rumour] Hurricanes Not Expected To Re-Sign Brett Pesce, Martin Necas

[RWJC]

Hurricanes Not Expected To Re-Sign Brett Pesce, Martin Necas

 

May 17th, 2024 at 10:41am CST • By Josh Erickson

 

The Hurricanes will be one of the most interesting teams to watch this offseason by any measure. After getting bounced in the second round by the Rangers, not only is the future of head coach Rod Brind’Amour in question, but they have multiple pending unrestricted free agents that would be among the top 20 names on the market should they not be re-signed before July 1.

 

One of them is blue-liner Brett Pesce, whose season ended in Game 2 of the first round against the Islanders after sustaining a lower-body injury. The top-four staple in Raleigh for nearly a decade could very well have played his last game for the Canes, notes Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Friday’s edition of “32 Thoughts”:

 

“Pesce didn’t seem likely. They kinda told him what they were willing to do last year,” Friedman said. “I think it was in the (five years, $5MM AAV) range. It didn’t work. I don’t know that it’s changed.”

 

Early into the extension-eligible period for their 2024 UFAs, reports indicated the Hurricanes weren’t close to extensions with any of them aside from franchise center Sebastian Aho, who inked the richest contract in franchise history last July. That included Pesce, who most expected Carolina to trade before the season to avoid letting him walk for nothing. He was even allowed to discuss extensions with other teams last summer, but Friedman confirmed during training camp that he’d been taken off the trade block by general manager Don Waddell.

 

It wasn’t the wisest decision for Pesce, who’s coming off arguably his worst campaign since his rookie season. His 0.19 points per game were a career-low, his 20:17 average per game was the lowest since 2015-16, and his possession metrics checked in right around the team average in both shot attempts and expected goals.

After a lengthy run of being one of the better two-way defenders in the league, though, he’s still likely in line to earn a slightly richer deal than what Carolina is offering him. Evolving Hockey projects him to land a six-year deal on the open market with a roughly $5.5MM cap hit.

 

Friedman also believes that forward Martin Nečas, now a restricted free agent after completing a two-year, $6MM bridge deal, could have his signing rights traded this summer, saying he doesn’t think Carolina will do “what Nečas wants to do.” The Hurricanes are expected to prioritize re-signing trade deadline pickup Jake Guentzel, the best left wing available on the pending UFA market. He also notes that Seth Jarvis, an RFA like Necas, has surpassed him on the depth chart internally and is more of a financial priority long-term.

 

Nečas is eligible for salary arbitration this summer, so they may need to execute a sign-and-trade or allow him to negotiate with other clubs. Opening the possibility for Nečas to force an acquiring team to arbitration could lower his trade value.

 

The 2017 12th-overall pick took a considerable step back this season, posting 24 goals and 53 points in 77 games after recording a career-high 71 in 82 last season. The Czech winger hasn’t historically been a positive possession force on a deep Hurricanes forward group, either, although he was good in playoff action this year with four goals and five assists in 11 games.

 

Any team acquiring Nečas would only be able to sign him to a seven-year deal if they wanted to go for the maximum term since he was on Carolina’s reserve list at the trade deadline, although it could be an eight-year deal via a sign-and-trade. Evolving Hockey projects that as the most likely outcome with a $7.5MM cap hit.

 

https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2024/05/hurricanes-not-expected-to-re-sign-brett-pesce-martin-necas.html#ref=home

[RWJC]

Hronek for Necas is an interesting thought 

[HKSR]

Wow... Necas is a beast.  Surprised they're considering letting him go.  He's probably gonna be a PPG or better player in his prime years (he's only 25yo)

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

3 minutes ago, RWJC said:

Hronek for Necas is an interesting thought 

If Hronek won't sign here for less than 7 mil then I'd consider it 

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

3 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Wow... Necas is a beast.  Surprised they're considering letting him go.  He's probably gonna be a PPG or better player in his prime years (he's only 25yo)

How'd he look next to Petey

[RWJC]

3 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Wow... Necas is a beast.  Surprised they're considering letting him go.  He's probably gonna be a PPG or better player in his prime years (he's only 25yo)

Guentzel extension in the works

[RWJC]

23 minutes ago, AlwaysACanuckFan said:

How'd he look next to Petey

Great, he’s not the best when it comes to possession but EP is and Necas has incredible skating and a toolbox/IQ to position, and/or setup finish with EP. 

 

A line with EP Lindhom and Necas would be a serious threat.

Edited May 17 by RWJC

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

2 minutes ago, RWJC said:

Great, he’s not the best when it comes to possession but EP is and Necas has the toolbox to set up and finish.

 

A line with EP Lindhom and Necas would be a serious threat.

Would look amazing however if we get Necas, I don't know if we could afford Lindholm, especially if we want to extend Z and Joshua 

[HKSR]

4 minutes ago, AlwaysACanuckFan said:

How'd he look next to Petey

It'd be incredible... but we can't afford Lindholm and Necas.  Even just keeping Lindholm would be difficult.  Plus the cost to acquire Necas would be very high.  He's a 25yo RH centre.

[RWJC]

15 minutes ago, AlwaysACanuckFan said:

Would look amazing however if we get Necas, I don't know if we could afford Lindholm, especially if we want to extend Z and Joshua 

It could be a lateral $$$ deal.  Our main concern is to jettison Mikheyev and get started from there. We also have one year left of Poolman LTIR we can offset with. It just makes things very very very tight going forward.

 

i did up an inflated breakdown for next year if we retain Lindholm at 8per, Zad at 5.5 and Joshua at 3.75. The numbers can work for one more season but the year after it puts BB6’s new deal into a question of affordability. If we want another STRONG cup run, we have to bolster the top 6 and replace a 3rd line C. We might be able to do that from within but it will make us very tight against the cap. 
 

With Lek and Willander eventually on their way (meaning they are absolutely going to get a chance to make it in the NHL just based on draft position alone) we may be able to offset a bumpy road in the future. But we have to get there first and still remain a contender. Some term contracts on younger players like a Necas will spread the cap out until the next young crop arrives while also maintaining competitive status.

we can’t slip back from where we are now…it’s not in the mgmt design for how this all was to proceed to begin with. We will always be up against the cap and turning over talent, even beloved players, if need be to maintain that directive.

 

i think Hronek extends here and we end up all being relatively satisfied with the number. It’s just what we do to complement EP next that is a bit of a concern 

Edited May 17 by RWJC

[Smashian Kassian]

Moving Necas makes 0 sense imo, surprised they'd let him go.

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

28 minutes ago, Smashian Kassian said:

Moving Necas makes 0 sense imo, surprised they'd let him go.

Perhaps Necas wants change of scenery 

[RWJC]

4 minutes ago, AlwaysACanuckFan said:

Perhaps Necas wants change of scenery 

Perhaps but he’s also RFA. As the article suggests, he’s been supplanted by Jarvis and moved downtown the depth chart. Given the top 6 strength on CAR it would take an injury for him to get those mins back. Cloudy future for him there now with all the upgrades they’ve added

[MeanSeanBean]

1 hour ago, HKSR said:

It'd be incredible... but we can't afford Lindholm and Necas.  Even just keeping Lindholm would be difficult.  Plus the cost to acquire Necas would be very high.  He's a 25yo RH centre.

He has played center, but rarely plays center in the NHL. He has more NHL seasons then Petey and has 338 face off wins and 476 Ls. Petey has 1465 wins and 1779 Ls. Necas was a center, he's now a RW. It's possible he could become a center again, but so far he has not shown to be nearly reliable enough defensively for that.

[HKSR]

2 minutes ago, MeanSeanBean said:

He has played center, but rarely plays center in the NHL. He has more NHL seasons then Petey and has 338 face off wins and 476 Ls. Petey has 1465 wins and 1779 Ls. Necas was a center, he's now a RW. It's possible he could become a center again, but so far he has not shown to be nearly reliable enough defensively for that.

I'd still rather we keep Lindholm.  He does more of what we need.  Cap hits would be similar. 

[HKSR]

14 minutes ago, RWJC said:

Perhaps but he’s also RFA. As the article suggests, he’s been supplanted by Jarvis and moved downtown the depth chart. Given the top 6 strength on CAR it would take an injury for him to get those mins back. Cloudy future for him there now with all the upgrades they’ve added

He's gonna explode offensively somewhere.  Likely a PPG guy in the next couple years.

[NoCupSyndrome]

1 hour ago, RWJC said:

Hronek for Necas is an interesting thought 

 

Was just thinking that as I scrolled down haha

[NoCupSyndrome]

51 minutes ago, Smashian Kassian said:

Moving Necas makes 0 sense imo, surprised they'd let him go.

 

I agree, seems more likely this is negotiating through the media than them trading him but who knows

[The Brock Star]

Pesce was expected, but I am shocked about Necas. This tells me that Carolina is looking for a big shake up this summer.

[GrammaInTheTub]

Can we stop proposing to go after Pesce now in all the trade Hronek proposals at least?

[Junkyard Dog]

2 minutes ago, GrammaInTheTub said:

Can we stop proposing to go after Pesce now in all the trade Hronek proposals at least?

They aren’t re-signing him. So he is fair game in FA. 

[Outsiders]

12 minutes ago, The Brock Star said:

Pesce was expected, but I am shocked about Necas. This tells me that Carolina is looking for a big shake up this summer.

Necas + 2nd for Hronek? 

 

Car needs D we could use a C/RW if Lindholm leaves

 

 

 

Clearly I didn't scroll up enough its already been discussed

 

 

 

Edited May 17 by Outsiders

[Junkyard Dog]

1 minute ago, Outsiders said:

Necas + 2nd for Hronek? 

 

Car needs D we could use a C/RW if Lindholm leaves

 

 

 

Necas is more a winger than a C and he may be looking to get paid. 
 

If we move on from Hronek we may need that cap to sign a defenseman. 

[GrammaInTheTub]

20 minutes ago, Junkyard Dog said:

They aren’t re-signing him. So he is fair game in FA. 

Yes he is but why would we want him or view him as anything close to a suitable replacement for Hronek 

[Junkyard Dog]

5 minutes ago, GrammaInTheTub said:

Yes he is but why would we want him or view him as anything close to a suitable replacement for Hronek 

If Hronek asks for too much and needs to be traded we’d be looking at all options to acquire a RD.