Necas becoming ‘home run hitter’ for Hurricanes

NEWARK, N.J. -- Martin Necas never stopped believing that he could become a top scorer in the NHL, that his time would eventually come.

"I was always hoping that I could get to this level," Necas said. "I felt I had the skill set."

While Necas hoped, others who had spent a lot of time with him knew the Carolina Hurricanes forward would become the dominant scorer, elite playmaker and puck magnet in the NHL he is today.

Necas had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 20 games, which is third in the League behind Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (35 points), and Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov (34).

He had 27 points in a 13-game point streak that ended Wednesday. Necas then had an assist on Andrei Svechnikov's power-play goal in a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, and two assists in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

"It was just about when (I thought) it would happen," said Vegas Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl, who has trained with Necas in Prague every offseason since 2021. "I saw him over the last three or four years his progress, how he plays, and I was always thinking it's about time. He was close, but I knew it was time."

Necas said he hasn't changed anything to get him to his current level of play.

"I always work hard," he said. "Good summer, no injuries."

Hertl can confirm that. He spends every day with Necas in the offseason: on the ice, in the gym, away from the rink, on the golf course and dinners.

"The last couple of years, sometimes you play good hockey you just don't get the points," Hertl said. "I feel like when you get over the hump, you get a couple points, you're feeling good and he can play his game. You just play and the points will come. That's what is happening."

Two seasons ago, Necas had what was then considered a breakout for him with 71 points (28 goals, 43 assists) in 82 games.

He dropped to 53 points (24 goals, 29 assists) in 77 games last season.

Still, when he became a restricted free agent after last season, the Hurricanes signed him to a two-year, $13 million contract ($6.5 million average annual value) on July 29. They didn't waver in their belief.

"Maybe last year wasn't what he wanted, but you could see what he's capable of doing and producing," said New Jersey Devils forward Stefan Noesen, who was Necas' teammate with Carolina the previous three seasons. "He's so dynamic. His skating ability is elite and once he starts feeling it, he really feels it."

Necas started feeling it in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, when he had nine points (four goals, five assists) in 11 games.

He carried that into the 2024 IIHF World Championship, where he helped Czechia win the gold medal with seven points (one goal, six assists) in five games. He had a goal and three assists in a 7-3 win against Sweden in the semifinals, and an assist in the gold medal game, a 2-0 win against Switzerland.

"He's building off of it," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You can just see it, he's very confident. Any athlete, when you're in that mode you feel like every time you touch the puck you're going to do something good with it. It's a good spot to be in."

It's not the first time for Necas.

"You saw bursts of it throughout the years," said Devils defenseman Brett Pesce, Necas' former teammate with Carolina.

Necas started the 2022-23 season with 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in Carolina's first 11 games. Later that season, he had 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 28 games from Jan. 19-March 26.

Devils forward Ondrej Palat, Necas' teammate on Czechia's national team, said he could tell Necas had game-breaking ability when he played against him and the Hurricanes in the playoffs in 2021.

Palat was with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the time. Necas did not have a point in the five-game series. Palat still vividly remembers him from that series.

"He was one of the most explosive guys," Palat said. "I don't know, he just didn't get the opportunity to really shine. Now that he has that a little more, a better role, you can just see how he's feeling comfortable and everything is going in for him."

Devils coach Sheldon Keefe remembers Necas when he coached against him in the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs in the American Hockey League, Necas with the Charlotte Checkers and Keefe the Toronto Marlies.

"They ended up winning the Calder Cup that year and he was just a tremendous, tremendous young player," Keefe said. "He showed an incredible skill set. I've always been on high alert coaching against him and certainly I am now."

Ask for Necas' best attribute and everyone who spoke for this story says it’s his skating ability.

"He's so fast, so creative with the puck," Pesce said.

Noesen said, "Elite. The way he cuts back, just how dynamic he is, you can put him up there with the best skaters in the League."

Brind'Amour said Necas wouldn't always utilize the most dynamic element of his game in the right way. There were times he was too east-west. There were times when he didn't push the pace on the rush.

"Sometimes in the past it almost hurt our transition game because he didn't want to go, he wanted to bring it back and build it," Brind'Amour said.

Now that Necas is using his skating to his advantage, Keefe said the Hurricanes have a new dimension, an elite rush game to go along with their trademark forecheck. It’s helped them to a 14-5-1 record entering their home game against the Dallas Stars at Lenovo Center on Monday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, Victory+).

"He's an incredible player coming through the neutral zone playing with the puck, playing on the rush," Keefe said. "I think some of Carolina's game has changed a bit in that sense and it's really suited him in particular."

Especially when Necas is skating with the confidence he has now.

Brind'Amour has called him Carolina's "home run hitter."

"He's a unique player that we have," the coach said. "I don't want to say out of the box, but we give him more freedom to do those things because he's capable of it."

Necas, though, is not letting success go to his head.

Longtime Hurricanes broadcaster Tripp Tracy said he talked with Necas on the quick flight from Philadelphia to Newark on Wednesday after the forward’s 13-game point streak ended. Tracy said Necas with a straight face, unfazed, told him, "Let's start a new one."

"I'm just trying to play it game by game, not to think about it that much," Necas said. "This is something that I enjoy, that I love, and when I'm playing like this, the game is a lot of fun. I'm just playing in the moment."

A moment he hoped would eventually come for him. A moment everyone else around him knew was inevitable.

"It's always been (Sebastian) Aho, the main guy," Palat said. "Aho is still very good, but now their engine is 'Nechy.' Good for him. He's got all the confidence in the world."