Bad blood preventing one Eastern Conference team from acquiring Martin Necas
Photo credit: @NHLTradeAlert on X
Martin Necas of the Carolina Hurricanes is one of the hottest names in the NHL trade market, but an Insider says he won't end up with the Montreal Canadiens
While the Stanley Cup has yet to be awarded for the 2023-24 season, teams out of the running are already in full offseason mode, with trade talks and negotiations already well underway. For trades, one of the hottest names on the market right now is Martin Necas of the Carolina Hurricanes, who is a pending restricted free agent. We now have an update.
Necas is coming off a contract that paid him $3 million per season. He's due for a raise, but the Hurricanes seem intent on chasing the free agent market, and are looking to dump Necas in order to have more money to play with. Several teams are interested, and one of the main names being talked about right now is the Montreal Canadiens.
"Friedman on 32TP: 'Carolina is letting people know that they consider Necas a budding star and that's the kind of return they want...Star power is what they want in return, I heard,'
Marek: 'Okay, so we're not dealing with picks and prospects here.'"
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However, while the Habs have plenty of interest, Nick Kypreos said on his latest podcast that it's just not going to happen. He cited bad blood between the Canadiens and Hurricanes as the reason why.
"'As much as the Habs love [Martin Necas], there seems to be zero chance of a trade with Montreal considering the bad blood over the Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet in 2021.' - @RealKyper."
To make what is a fairly long story as short as possible, the hard feelings between the two started when then Canadiens' General Manager Marc Bergevin filed an offer sheet on the Canes Sebastian Aho in 2019. The offer sheet was quickly matched by Carolina's owner, Tom Dundon. In an attempt to outdo Bergevin, two years later the Canes filed an offer sheet for pending Canadiens RFA Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and ended up landing him.
Given Kotkaniemi's current deal, Carolina may regret the successful offer sheet a bit at this point, although it was really never about the money, or the player. It should also be noted that Bergevin is no longer with Montreal, then Canes GM Don Waddell is no longer with Carolina, and those in their positions may just want to move on.
Previously on Bladeofsteel
| POLL |
9 JUIN | 207 ANSWERS Bad blood preventing one Eastern Conference team from acquiring Martin Necas What do you think of the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes not completing a trade due to past history? |
| Seems childish | 122 | 58.9 % |
| It's the right think | 55 | 26.6 % |
| I don't know | 30 | 14.5 % |
| LIST OF POLLS |
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