Necas in Carolina "Slipping Away"; 3-Way Deal Possible

One of the hottest names on the rumor mill continues to be Martin Necas. There was some talk that maybe the Carolina Hurricanes haven't given up on re-signing him, but that appears to no longer be the case. The latest report, from insider Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts podcast on Tuesday, indicates that things picked up over the weekend, and that Necas is pretty much done in Raleigh.

I heard that initially Carolina looked at it like if worse came to worst, they could bring Necas back next year. But I think that feeling has kind of slipped away. There is an understanding... Privately, he's made it pretty clear he wants to move on.

What's been happening in talks, is that Carolina has told certain interested teams that they don't have what they're looking for in a potential Necas trade. Friedman has heard that some of those spurned clubs will be trying to bring in a third team to find the assets that the Canes are looking for, and work out the machinations of a three-way deal.

The 25-year-old forward's two-year, $3 million AAV deal has expired, and he is currently a restricted free agent this summer. He had his second straight 20+ goal season in Carolina, but his usage diminished, as his ice time dropped by a full minute per game, and his points decreased from 71 in the 2022-23 season to just 53 this year.

And while Necas has supposedly made his intentions "private" as Friedman noted, the player's father hasn't been shy about going public about wanting to get his son to a new situation. Expect a trade by the Draft at the end of this month.