Elliotte Friedman reveals which two teams almost traded for Hurricanes forward Martin Necas

For a large portion of the beginning of the offseason, the NHL news cycle revolved around potential trade scenarios involving Martin Necas. There had been rumors that the forward did not want to re-sign with the Hurricanes and with his contract almost up a trade was likely. However, in the end, he did end up signing a two-year extension with the Hurricanes.

Now over a month after the extension was signed between the two sides more information has been revealed. According to Elliotte Friedman the Hurricanes superstar was almost traded before an extension was agreed to.

In a new installment of his 32 Thoughts articles, Elliotte Friedman spoke about the Martin Necas situation. His sources have confirmed that both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets were seriously trying to land Martin Necas in a trade.

Both the Columbus Jackets and Winnipeg Jets are teams looking to take the next steps in their progress toward a Stanley Cup.

The Winnipeg Jets have been consistently a playoff team for many seasons in a row now. Despite this they have not made a Stanley Cup Finals appearance since their return to Winnipeg. Martin Necas could have brought major skill and bridged the gap between their older core group and younger players trying to break out.

In the case of the Columbus Blue Jackets, they are a very young team looking to claw their way back into the playoffs. Adding a high-end forward like Martin Necas would've given the Blue Jackets a player to carry the offensive load as the younger players get through the ups and downs of an NHL season.

Regardless Martin Necas will be returning to the Carolina Hurricanes hoping for a bounce-back season after only putting up 53 points in 2023-24. The Hurricanes will be hoping that he can return to the 70 point plus player he was in years past to live up to the contract extension he was given.

Source: HockeyDB
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