This the breakout season Canes fans have been waiting for.
In his fourth season as a regular on the Carolina Hurricanes, center Martin Nečas is lighting the lamp with ease. With eight points in six games, the 23-year-old phenom is finally putting up the numbers his size, speed and skills suggest.
At 6-foot-2, 189 lbs, Nečas possesses one of the most lethal combinations of size and speed in the NHL. His playmaking ability and creativity with the puck is also well-documented, but his stats prior to the 2022-23 season don’t quite reflect that. Nečas finished each of the past three seasons with around 40 points. Respectable numbers for sure, but not even approaching that next level of production he’s putting up this season.
So what’s different this year? Simply put, confidence. Nečas looks much more steady on the ice than in years past — he’s making efficient on-ice reads, creating opportunities and promptly taking them.
The Czech center exhibited this improvement against the Columbus Blue Jackets on opening night. Once the Canes forced a turnover in the Blue Jackets zone, Columbus netminder Daniil Tarasov was late to get low and get back over to the crease. Nečas took note and, after pouncing on the loose puck, slid a goal past Tarasov before he could reset. No fancy stickwork needed, just fired away.
Nečas’ economy of motion comes in different varieties, however. On this quick rush against the San Jose Sharks, right wing Andrei Svechnikov generated a turnover and Nečas quickly flipped his path from getting back on defense on the right to cruising down the middle of the Sharks’ zone.
He then slipped past the San Jose defensemen to create a clear path towards the net. Once there, Nečas teased a shot to the glove side of Sharks goalie and former Hurricane James Reimer only to beat him throughout the five-hole. His dangling skills are alive and well, but now they are more potent with his finishing ability.
Hockey is a team sport, and Nečas’ puck vision makes him a huge threat to deal out assists as well as goals. On this power play against the Vancouver Canucks, Nečas received the puck on the left side and soon saw Svechnikov with an open shooting lane on the other side of the ice.
Rather than rush the pass, Nečas stayed cool, calm and collected, drawing the defense in with a series of dekes before dishing the puck across the ice for Svechnikov to bury on a power play goal.
Even if his point-scoring tear slows down, Nečas is showcasing the fundamentals necessary to create sustainable, high-quality hockey. On a per 60 minutes basis, Nečas’ individual Corsi and rebounds created are both at career-high levels. So are his faceoff win percentages and shooting percentages. Nečas’ overall quality of play shows no signs of slowing down.
When Nečas re-signed with Carolina this past offseason, there were doubts as to whether his return was the best move for the Canes compared to bringing back right wing Nino Niederreiter, who ultimately signed for the Nashville Predators. So far this season, Nečas is proving the doubters wrong by delivering on the potential he showed in flashes in seasons past.
