With only four teams still standing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, that means there are 28 other teams out there preparing for the silly season and so, as is tradition, the trade rumour mill is kicking up once again.
On Friday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman talked about the latest around Martin Necas in Carolina, Elias Lindholm‘s outlook with the Vancouver Canucks, and more.
Martin Necas and the Carolina Hurricanes
It’s setting up to be a summer of change in Carolina and now we know Don Waddell won’t be the one to oversee it anymore.
The GM of the past six years, Waddell stepped down on Friday and was replaced on an interim basis by Eric Tulsky, who was been with the team for a decade and has held the assistant GM job since 2020.
On the long list of things for Tulsky to do is figuring out what’s next for RFA forward Martin Necas. The 25-year-old scored 24 goals and 53 points this season after accumulating 28 goals and 71 points in 2022-23 and in his last press conference as GM, Waddell said he thought there was still more to come from the player and how he could factor into the team’s future.
Meantime, with other important contracts to consider giving to Jake Guentzel or Brett Pesce, and to prioritize with Seth Jarvis, trade rumours have begun to kick up around Necas. In a recent interview with Czech outlet Deník Sport, Necas’ father said the player wanted to be traded.
“I do think it’s likely he gets moved,” Elliotte Friedman said on Friday’s podcast. “I just think him and the Hurricanes don’t see each other in the same value. But we’ll see how it all works out.”
Friedman noted that he believed the Hurricanes and Bruins had talked about a potential Linus Ullmark trade before this year’s deadline, though it’s unknown if Necas was a part of that negotiation. And before Waddell’s departure he kept the door open to a change in net, despite the fact Carolina has a couple goalies still under contract. If Ullmark were to be dealt, he has a 16-team no-trade list that would have to be considered.
“On paper that makes sense to me, but just talking on paper I think there’s a lot of teams that are going to be looking at Necas and trying to find out what he wants. He’s a good player and Carolina’s going to have options here.”
One of the many other teams that could revisit interest in Necas are the Vancouver Canucks. Friedman reminded that, before Elias Pettersson signed his long-term extension in March, the Canes and Canucks had engaged in trade discussions and that Necas was someone of interest to Vancouver.
Pettersson wouldn’t be part of those talks today, but the Canucks could re-engage with a different approach.
“Remember when all that Pettersson drama hit about whether he was going to sign or not sign and Vancouver talked with Carolina? Necas was in that deal,” Friedman said. “I wonder if there’s a Necas deal to be made there with Vancouver. Carolina’s got a lot of D they need to sign, what if they look at someone like (Filip) Hronek making more sense for them? That’s the kind of thing I’m wondering about now.”
Boston could target Elias Lindholm, Chandler Stephenson if they hit the market
After a slow start in Vancouver when he was first traded there, Elias Lindholm played some of his best hockey in the playoffs and endeared himself with the budding group. At Thursday’s year-end press conference when Lindholm was asked about his contract outlook with the Canucks, there was a light moment where J.T. Miller and Thatcher Demko stepped in to encourage Lindholm to “be really specific” about the term and dollars he wants.
But the fact is that Lindholm will have a wide selection of suitors to choose from if he tests the unrestricted free agent market on July 1 and at 29 years of age, it could be his last chance to maximize a long-term, big money score.
The Boston Bruins have long been interested in Lindholm, and were one of the teams connected to him in trade rumours before the Flames sent the centre to Vancouver. At their year-end press conference, Bruins GM Don Sweeney said he intended to be “aggressive” to upgrade certain areas of the roster this summer, and it’s no secret Boston has been seeking centres for the past year.
That means they could go after more than one of them.
“I’m expecting them to be in on (Lindholm) if he hits the market,” Friedman said. “Someone else said to me throw Chandler Stephenson’s name in there. I think there’s a lot of people expecting Stephenson will be on Boston’s radar. People definitely believe Boston’s going to get a centre. When the Bruins say they’re going to do something they tend to do it and they tend to attract good players because they’re generally a very well-run organization.”
Still, don’t count out the Canucks on Lindholm Watch. For now, they are the only team that can talk to him about a contract until the market opens.
“I’ve heard there’s been a bit of a full court press by, I don’t know if it’s one Canuck player or a couple on Lindholm, on ‘what’s it going to take to keep you here Elias?’
“I do think a couple of guys have tried to sell Lindholm on trying to find a way to make it work. They saw his value in the post-season.”
