Insider: Avalanche 'Might Have To Move On' From Martin Necas

 

The fallout from the Kirill Kaprizov record signing is being felt all over the NHL. One place in particular, as pointed out by insider Frank Seravalli on Bleacher Report, is in Denver. He notes the pending unrestricted free agent will need a new deal before he hits free agency next July 1, and he's not sure the Colorado Avalanche are going to like the price. A trade could be in the offing, he suggests.

If Marty Necas goes out and has another point-per-game season, that number, that AAV, starts north of '10' ($10M). Once you get to that stage, and you could have kept Mikko Rantanen for $12M or $11.5M or whatever the number ended up being, the gap between Necas and Rantanen is more sizeable than those cap hits might indicate...

It might get to a place where they have to do something to move on, because right now, the Colorado Avalanche are in exactly the same position with Marty Necas that they were with Mikko Rantanen last year.

Necas, 26, is wrapping up a two-year bridge deal with a $6.5M AAV that he signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in July of 2024. He was traded to the Avs as part of the (first) Rantanen trade six months later, in January of 2025. The Avalanche had been trying to re-sign their superstar forward Rantanen to an extension, but felt they wouldn't be able to make it work, thereby deciding to trade him to get something in return.

Insider says Necas's contract demands could price him out of Colorado

Necas, a 6'3" center, posted 27 goals and 83 points in 79 games last season, split between the Canes and the Avs. He also produced five points in seven playoff games with Colorado. 

Rantanen, of course, was traded a second time, from Carolina to the Dallas Stars, where he signed a long-term extension for a $12M AAV. Overall, an epic fail for the Avalanche.

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