Report: Martin Necas Blocked Trade Earlier This Summer

He doesn't have a no-trade clause — either in his prior contract, or in his newly-signed extension — but as a restricted free agent, the Carolina Hurricanes' Martin Necas is reported to have put the kibosh on a trade the team thought it had worked out by insisting that he'd refuse to sign a new deal with that club.

Insider Frank Seravalli explained what happened on Daily Faceoff's DFO podcast on Monday:

Draft week, I believe the Buffalo Sabres had a deal in place with Carolina to trade for Marty Necas — I think it was Buffalo — there was one team for sure they had a trade agreed to, and Necas would not agree to sign a deal with that new team, and that ended up scuttling the trade.

Seravalli went on to add that another team also tried to obtain him but "that wasn't a place he was going to sign (either)."

Necas has agreed to a two-year bridge deal in Carolina at $6.5 million AAV, just a couple of days in advance of his scheduled arbitration hearing, so at least it didn't get ugly, but given this new information, we wonder how happy the two sides are with each other, despite the signing.

Adding another rising center like Necas would have been a nice get for the Sabres, who traded away another promising second-line center in Casey Mittelstadt last season. Buffalo is trying to snap a 13-year playoff drought this coming season (perhaps a reason why Necas declined to sign on there).

For the Hurricanes, after losing Jake Guentzel in free agency, it makes sense that they will now lean on Necas for a bigger role in 2024-25, after he suffered a cut in his time on ice last season, which likely led to his asking for a trade.

We'll see if the two sides can peacefully co-exist going forward.