The Carolina Hurricanes have had a busy year, with changes in hockey ops and the coaching staff, as well as on the ice. It’s often overlooked, but the Canes have an excellent stockpile of prospects – we profile five prospects who will be future stars for the team.
There is so much to be grateful for at Christmas. Food, family, good fortune. One thing that we should all be grateful for as Carolina Hurricanes fans is the excellent pipeline of talented prospects assembled by the franchise over recent years. Today, we look at five prospects who prove that the best is yet to come from the Canes. And we start with a guy who every single Canes fan I’ve spoken with says should already be on the team.
Martin Necas – a future top six forward
It seems slightly ridiculous that we’re still talking about Martin Necas being a prospect, as there’s not a Canes fan alive who doesn’t think he should be on the Carolina Hurricanes team playing decent minutes. And yet, Necas has plied his trade in Charlotte for the majority of the season, and has been in excellent scoring nick.
After seeing the ice for a single, solitary game with the Carolina Hurricanes last season, Necas began the season with the Canes and saw seven games as the team started the season on fire. Sadly for Necas, a couple of losses saw changes made, and he was sent down to Charlotte for further development.
That proved to be an excellent move as, rather than keeping Necas in the bottom six of a team that was losing quite a few games at the time, he was given top six minutes on the best team in the AHL, and has thrived under coach Mike Vellucci. After posting just two points in those seven NHL games to begin the year, Necas has 22 points in 26 games in the AHL, and has scored some spectacular goals along the way.
There is no doubt – Martin Necas will be an impactful top six forward for the Carolina Hurricanes. Fans hope to see it any day now, but it may be next year before he’s given the role he needs with the Canes.