Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas will enter the 2023-24 NHL season on the heels of a career-best performance this past season. The 24-year-old led the Hurricanes with 71 points (28 goals, 43 assists) in 82 games played, and helped keep the team rolling while Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov missed stretches due to injury. You could make the argument that he was the most consistent forward for the majority of the season, playing in all 82 games and providing consistent scoring production no matter who was on his line any given night. Without his offensive production last season, who knows if the Hurricanes would have been able to clinch their third straight division title.
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In my opinion, there’s reason to believe that the Czech forward will make another jump this season as his role as a top-six forward in Carolina continues to develop. Let’s take a look at a few of the reasons I feel confident in Necas continuing his rise as the Hurricanes look to contend for the Stanley Cup in 2023-24.
Confidence at All-Time High
One factor that allowed Necas to set career-best numbers in goals, assists, and points was his confidence. After struggling at times to provide consistent production and trust his shot throughout his young career, he was able to skate around the ice and let it fly at all times this past season allowing his confidence to skyrocket after seeing early returns of success.
Necas finished with 240 shots on the season, which was second most on the team only trailing defenseman Brent Burns. His previous career-high was 159 shots in the 2021-22 season, this jump was a testament to his rising confidence in his shooting ability as well as a significant increase in average ice time (18:25) this past season.
Power Play Production
Another factor that led to the boost in Necas’ production was his increase in power play points, leading the Hurricanes with 26 power play points (nine goals, 17 assists) last season. This was a massive jump over his previous career high of 11 power play points in 2020-21. His confidence paired with his impressive speed allowed him to excel when the Hurricanes were on the man advantage.
I expect him to continue to thrive on the Hurricanes’ top power play unit this season as well. As they look to improve on their power play which was tied for 19th best in the NHL with a power play percentage of 19.8%, it will be key for Necas to continue trusting his shot and firing when he gets open looks.
Hungry After Snub
Despite having impressive numbers in the first half of the season and being a big reason why the Hurricanes were leading the Metropolitan Division, Necas was not selected to play in the 2023 NHL All-Star Game. He shined in the Stadium Series game shortly after the All-Star Break, finishing with one goal and two assists in a 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals in front of 56,961 fans.
Look for Necas to come into this season with a chip on his shoulder following last season’s All-Star snub. I fully expect him to let that snub on top of the disappointment in his performance down the stretch in the postseason fuel him this season. He has all the tools and skillset to make another jump in his career development, and this hunger could be just what he needs to get to that next level.
Big Payday On the Horizon
It will be interesting to see if Necas can improve his production this upcoming season and potentially eclipse the 80-point mark for the first time in his career. To this point, it looks like Hurricanes’ general manager Don Waddell made the absolute right decision to re-sign Necas to a two-year deal last offseason when there were many wondering if they’d let him go after a couple of inconsistent seasons. If he’s able to improve upon last season’s production he will be in line for a hefty payday next offseason.