Mailbag: Necas' hot streak for Hurricanes; European expansion

Here is the Nov. 20 edition of the weekly NHL.com mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on X and Bluesky. Send your questions to @drosennhl and @NHLdotcom on X, or @drosennhl.bsky.social on Bluesky, and tag them with #OvertheBoards.

How likely is it that Martin Necas will continue his torrid pace? And as a flipside of that question, how long can the Hurricanes keep up their success with both Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov struggling to be effective in 5-on-5? -- @jackmanley.bsky.social

Necas has 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 18 games, including 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in a 13-game point streak that ended Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. That means over those 13 games, Necas was on a 170-point pace for a full 82-game season. For this season, he's on a 136-point pace. I don't think I'm breaking news here when I say there will be a dip at some point. He's red-hot right now, which is huge for the Hurricanes (14-4-0), because, as you mentioned in your question, Aho and Svechnikov are not lighting it up at even strength.

Aho has 11 even-strength points (four goals, seven assists) after getting a goal and an assist in the win against the Flyers, and Svechnikov haseight (two goals, six assists). They have each played in all 18 games. Necas (18 even-strength points), Eric Robinson (12), Jordan Martinook (12), Jesperi Kotkaniemi (11) and Jack Roslovic (11, including 10 goals) have matched the even strength production of Aho and exceeded that of Svechnikov, who are first-line forwards. But I wouldn't be concerned. Aho, for example, spends 49.1 percent of his even strength shifts in the offensive zone as opposed to 32.3 percent in the defensive zone, according to NHL EDGE stats. That's a significant discrepancy and shows that he has the puck a lot. He has 13 high-danger shots on goal, but one goal. He's getting chances. He's just not finishing. If he wasn't getting chances that would be a problem. Svechnikov has four goals on 28 shots in the high-danger area. He too is generating chances with his 47.0 percent in the offensive zone.

Necas' hot streak is helping to push the Hurricanes offense at a time when Aho and Svechnikov are a bit snakebit and forward Seth Jarvis is out with an injury. Necas might cool eventually, but the statistics show that Aho and Svechnikov could start picking up their even-strength production soon.

Is league expansion to Europe possible in the next 10 years? Or ever? -- @angileaf.bsky.social

Expansion into overseas markets is an elephant in the room for all major professional sports leagues in North America. Somebody is going to do it. When? I have no clue. But it's going to happen at some point. The business end of it makes too much sense. If I had to guess, I would think the National Football League is first. The NFL schedule, one game per week, is more conducive to having a team or multiple teams in Europe than it is for an NHL or NBA schedule. Major League Baseball doesn't have the same appeal in Europe.

There are a host of reasons why expanding to Europe would be a challenge for the NHL, including the obvious travel and time zone change, the requirement of venues that are up to the League standards for, among other details, seating capacity and amenities for teams/players and fans, not to mention the existing hockey infrastructures in the European markets that would be under consideration.

The NHL Global Series is thriving and the League is gaining a foothold with fans in various European markets. Teams are eager to participate in the Global Series because of the marketing benefits for their brand, merchandise and their players. Will it eventually lead to expansion, perhaps a European division? There's no denying that as a possibility somewhere down the road, maybe in the next decade. That for now seems like a stretch.

Connor Bedard's minutes are tanking. What is it going to take to get him back on track? -- @TBLfan21

Tanking is a strong take on Bedard's minutes. He played 20:26 and had two assists in a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. He is averaging 18:47 of ice time in the Chicago Blackhawks' past 11 games, which is 2:32 more than every other forward. Yes, it is down from the 20:26 he averaged in the first eight games of the season, but it's not tanking ice time. It's two shifts fewer per game, which directly coincides with Chicago's drop in power-play ice time per game from 5:10 in their first eight games to 3:48 in the past 11. Ice time is not the concern. Scoring is the concern. Bedard has to score, and he isn't doing that nearly enough. He had no points in Chicago's three previous games before his two-assist night Tuesday. He hasn't scored a goal in 10 games. Is it any surprise then that the Blackhawks are struggling to score too? No. They have eight goals in the past six games, going 1-5-0.

Bedard clearly has to be more assertive and aggressive in his approach. That much is obvious. He has six shots on goal in the past five games. That after averaging 3.5 per game in the first 14 games. That's a big reason why coach Luke Richardson moved him to left wing Tuesday. The idea is to get him to think more offense, more of a shot mentality, instead of being so consumed with the other parts of the game. It worked in the sense that he had two assists and looked comfortable, but consistency around him will help, meaning giving him linemates that he can work with and gain chemistry with instead of regularly moving players around and changing up the lines. He has had eight different linemates in the past five games; Philipp Kurashev, Ryan Donato, Teuvo Teravainen, Nick Foligno, Lukas Reichel, Taylor Hall, Jason Dickinson and Joey Anderson. How is that helping him? Fact: Chicago isn't winning and Bedard isn't scoring. A little predictability for the 19-year-old when he arrives at the rink could go a long way toward getting him back on track. Cutting his ice time won't, but that doesn't seem to be the approach in Chicago.

Will the NCAA-CHL agreement allowing junior players to attend college impact the NHL Draft? Might we see changes in draft age or an overage draft? Is this beneficial for player development or just a financial move/money grab for hockey programs? -- @theashcity

In everything I have heard and read about the agreement between the NCAA and Canadian Hockey League to allow CHL players to be eligible to play NCAA college hockey starting Aug. 1, 2025, I have not heard or read much about the impact on the NHL Draft, the draft age or an overage draft. However, there is one area that could eventually impact the draft. Right now, NHL teams hold the rights to 18-year-old drafted CHL players for two years. If they remain unsigned in that window, the CHL players can either re-enter the NHL Draft if they have not yet turned 20 or they can become a free agent. However, NHL teams retain the rights to NCAA players they draft for four years. That theoretically could impact how teams view CHL players in the draft, particularly in the later rounds. NHL teams could be more inclined to draft players out of high school or Europe instead of the CHL with those later picks because they have a longer window of development before a decision is made on them. If the NHL and CHL amend their agreement to extend it to four years of rights retention to match the agreement between the NHL and NCAA that could lead to more CHL players being selected in the later rounds. But that's a smaller development that could happen down the road once we learn more about how the CHL-NCAA agreement works. For now, I don't see too much of an impact on the NHL draft, because players will be scouted wherever they play and the philosophies on player development won't change.

The agreement in general appears now to be a win for the players as it opens options for them that previously did not exist. They can play in the CHL as 16, 17 and even 18-year-olds, and still then have the option to change course and play NCAA hockey. The growth of NIL money available for collegiate hockey players will certainly have an impact, too. It's a big win for the players across the board. I think CHL teams are going to have to step up their game and their investment in the latest technology and training even more to keep players.

Has Zac Jones finally shown enough to the Rangers for him to be an every game player? -- @huntley101888.bsky.social

Absolutely. The defenseman has played well with the minutes he's been getting of late. They're somewhat sheltered minutes on the third pair, but Jones is executing well, defending hard, getting the puck out of the zone and joining the rush when he can without too much risk in his game. It's what you want out of a third-pair defenseman who has offensive instincts and is playing regularly against bottom-six forwards. He's making way fewer mistakes than rookie Victor Mancini was making in his nine games before he was assigned to Hartford of the American Hockey League.

However, even with Jones' strong play, I still think the Rangers will look to target a physical, aggressive defenseman who has a strong first pass and can safely and simply clear the puck out of the zone before the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline on March 7. That doesn't mean Jones can't find a spot in the top six if they do. He's essentially on a tryout basis for a top-six spot now. But the Rangers too often get hemmed in their own zone. They need to be better at muscling the puck away and getting it out quickly and safely. They need to be more physical. Jones is not the answer for that, but that doesn't mean he can't be part of the solution come playoff time.