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Carolina Hurricanes 2024 Summer Talk ... press the reset button?

cmaleski2 said:
Necas would become a UFA after the 25-26 season should he go that route.

At this point, barring a trade, I think the best path forward for both sides is a 1 year contract, be it at whatever the arbitration award is or something in between Necas' ask and the Canes offer. That get's Necas 1 year closer to UFA status and gives him one more shot to get back to the 70+ points Necas. He is going to see increased opportunity for the Canes this coming season out of necessity. If that increased opportunity isn't enough for him to produce, then we just go through this rodeo again next offseason. If he breaks out this season, MAYBE both sides become willing to sign a longer term extension. Or maybe it makes the Canes ask for a trade easier to find.

Anyhow, he's what, like $5-$6 million in arbitration? It will be interesting to see the number his agent files.
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The Agent definitely files for at least $6m, maybe $6.5 with hopes he gets at least $6 in the end. I see him in the Canes eyes somewhere around $5.5 to $5.75m based on a bit of an off year he had compared to the season before. The media loves to spice up the story that the player is always pissed and angry when it goes to arbitration to get settled...so I am sure that is coming if it makes it that far.
 
Best guess ... the arbitration award is going to do the normal math on the three year arc, which doesn't really help Necas since he's got one 70 point season smack in the middle of a 40 and a 53. So, for his bank account's sake Necas got the arc all wrong resulting in him trending flat instead of trending up. The qualifier is irrelevant at $3.5 million, so that's no help. Necas isn't going to like it, but his comparables put him in the $5.0-5.5 million range, even if you choke down a laugh and call him a center. So, yeah ... Necas files at $6.5 mil or whatever, and the Canes file at $5 mil and you slug it out. For once, I wouldn't be scared to let it get to the actual hearing because the player's people have been the ones doing the gum flapping. All Carolina has ever said is that they like the player and would love to have him back. They even went so far as to release him to negotiate with other teams, and you can't be more accomodating than that. Everything else is right there in the measurables.

Either way if you're Carolina you push to get the second year if you can. Then you avoid the drama next year when there will be a lot of moving parts, and if he walks in 2026, then he walks. In the meantime, he's got all the incentive in the world to get to 70-80 points and that's nothing but helpful to the Canes.
 
The notion that he plays the type of game which emulates a center is laughable. Lousy at the backcheck, and poor discipline.
If he really has that kind of chip on his shoulder, he needs to either up his game or get real about his role.
 
Necas could be a solid 30 goal 60-79 point range, defensively even at best RW. That is his ceiling to me. He has shown no ability to be an effective NHL center. That is not the Canes fault, it's his fault. He is beyond useless at the dot. His defensive coverage is poor. Unless he has some massive epiphany, he is going to be a crappy center should some other team elect to commit to him being a center. It won't take long for some other team to realize that Necas is better at the wing with less responsibility.

If Necas is thinking his value is being suppressed because he is not being allowed to play center, that isn't really the case. His value is suppressed because he is an inconsistent, one dimensional player who doesn't seem to be getting any better. If he thinks his production is suppressed by the Canes putting him on the '4th' line and PP2, well, yeah, that is valid. But he earned his way into those spots by being outplayed by other players. Necas didn't seem to take advantage of what should have been cupcake matchup opportunities on the '4th line'.

You can make a nice living in the NHL being a 60, 70 point winger. Such a player is worth $5.5 - $7 million per season at least (probably going up as the cap goes up). Necas can get frustrated all he wants, but he is what he is, and that is not going to change on some other team. If he was on Columbus, playing Center between Johnny Gaudreau and Kirill Marchenko and getting 1st unit PP time, he would end up with 25 G 30 A and be -20.
 
One thing worth remembering here ... the only person actively expressing Necas' frustration at not being "allowed" to play center in the NHL is his father. And yeah, Necas and his agent are certainly acting like they agree, but to what degree? We don't really know. All that is absolutely clear, from what has actually happened and been credibly reported, is that he's looking for a more important role and that when presented with the chance to negotiate with other clubs, he's not been willing to agree to a contract that takes him past his quickest path to UFA status.

Bottom line ... this is gonna sort itself out and the easiest, most likely outcome as laid out in the current CBA is that he'll end up playing for the Hurricanes next season (and potentially the season after that) for a reasonable contract based on his career arc thus far, and that he'll be looking to produce something more in line with his numbers from the 2022-23 season to better facilitate his eventual big UFA contract ... which will almost certainly come from some club not named the Carolina Hurricanes. Which is all business as usual in the NHL and should surprise exactly no one.
 
Arbitration hearings were supposed to start tomorrow and run through August 4. But, unlike prior years, the NHLPA hasn’t released the hearing dates, so we won’t know when Necas’ hearing will be until/unless the team or PA announces the arbitrator‘s decision.
 
That is definitely a change. Normally by now we would have the full list from the NHLPA with players and dates. In some cases, some of the media pundits would have also teased out the salary amounts being argued by both sides. Complete radio silence this season.

The Hockey New weighed in on this earlier today (not really much detail, just the fact that this is a change of approach and a personal musing about why the NHLPA might be taking that approach (if we/media doesn't know the date, they won't be hounding both sides about negotiations right before the date)).


So we have no idea if/when we will hear a result on Necas if they get to the hearing.
 
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Which is fine. I've never thought it was helpful to anyone for the media to be leaking out info ahead of those hearings. All it did was prop up preconceived notions about animosity that a lot of times never existed. 90% of the crap that "leaked" about this player being offended by an offer and that team being offended by a comparison is just that ... crap.
 
If you’re so inclined, lots of pictures of the boys at Aho’s wedding on various social media sites. Fast wasn’t wearing a neck brace. Nino was there. And Finland survived Jarvis.
 
andyt said:
If you’re so inclined, lots of pictures of the boys at Aho’s wedding on various social media sites. Fast wasn’t wearing a neck brace. Nino was there. And Finland survived Jarvis.
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So, Aho has lost his mind?
 
Sean McIndoe, Scott Wheeler and Jesse Granger at The Athletic started a series ranking each team’s current and future goaltending outlook. The bottom 10 is listed today. The Canes are in the bottom 19, at #23. They note that the gap to the Leafs and Caps below them was big and they were only a fraction of a point out of the middle 10.

Andersen is still capable of playing at a high level in stints. They project Kochetkov as a potential #1 in the not too distant future but behind him, things are muddled. Wheeler thinks Perets will be a good AHL goalie. But for the prospects, he says it’s quantity over quality, including Khazheyev. He doesn’t see much in any of Hamrla, Quapp and Vondras.

www.nytimes.com

Ranking each NHL team's current and future goaltending outlook, Part 1: The bottom 10

The first of a three-part series ranking how good each team's goaltending situation is, from worst to best.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
Walt Ruff has a story on the Canes website about Charles-Alexis Legault, who was probably a surprise signing after his junior year at Quinnipiac but impressed everyone at the Development Camp. But one tidbit stood out.

Expected to be developing his game in either Chicago of the American Hockey League or with a yet-to-be-announced ECHL club which the Canes will have a working agreement with, the big defender is ready to accept the role head-on.
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The ECHL has 29 teams. The Canes, Jackets and UHC don’t have a ECHL affiliation. So the Canes will once again have to loan players to an existing ECHL team. Ideally, it would be a team in the Central Division, which has teams in Bloomington, IL; Fort Wayne, IN; Fishers, IN; Coralview, IA; Cincinnati; Kalamazoo and Toledo. Bloomington is the Rangers affiliate, I don’t know if they want to share with a divisional opponent.

www.nhl.com

Canes See Legault As 'Ready For The Next Challenge' | Carolina Hurricanes

"His ability to play fast offensively, end plays off the rush, and then get up in the play, that’s exactly what we want of our defensemen."
www.nhl.com www.nhl.com
 
Can we just call UHC Utah? Acronyms make my eyes bleed and I don't need to have to learn another. For that matter, Tulsky has almost as few letters as GMET and I freaking hate that trend anyway.

Yes, I'm old and yes, it's Monday.
 
andyt said:
Bloomington is the Rangers affiliate, I don’t know if they want to share with a divisional opponent.
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Given how many players the average NHL team actually places on the ECHL affiliate's roster, I wouldn't think that sharing would be an issue one way or the other. Any NHL prospects in the ECHL are going to be playing, which is the general concern with affiliate sharing.
 
jeffbear said:
Can we just call UHC Utah? Acronyms make my eyes bleed and I don't need to have to learn another. For that matter, Tulsky has almost as few letters as GMET and I freaking hate that trend anyway.

Yes, I'm old and yes, it's Monday.
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Thank you.
 
I said on the pod it'd be the 4th, just had that feeling ya know; nothing is every easy AKA the Hurricane Way
 
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