The NHL off-season continues through the holiday weekend. Yesterday, the restricted free agents qualified by their teams had to file for arbitration and two Carolina Hurricanes did just that before the deadline. Martin Necas and Jack Drury both filed for arbitration making them continued property of the Canes and unable to negotiate with other organizations for an offer sheet.
The Canes had a history with offer sheets when Sebastian Aho was offered one by the Montreal Canadians and then the offer and signing of Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the same Montreal club. Drury is expected to sign a deal before arbitration but Necas has been the talk of the trade market since Carolina was knocked out of the playoffs by the New York Rangers.
The 25-year-old is rumored to want out of Raleigh and it is a chance for the Canes to add a top 6 forward in a package for Necas.
There are reports that CAR is pushing heavily for Ehlers.
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) July 5, 2024
Can confirm those reports.
Make sense with them losing Guentzel.#Isles had interest leading up to #NHLDraft.
Could still have interest even after acquiring Duclair but not sure.
Another player heavily rumored to be on the trade block is Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers. Ehlers is a unrestricted free agent after the 2024-25 season and currently has a salary cap hit of $6 million. Last season he had 25 goals and 61 points in all 82 games. He is 28 years old and was the Jets' 9th overall selection in the 2014 NHL draft.
The Hockey News writer, Stefan Rosner, confirmed the strong push by Canes' general manager, Eric Tulsky for Ehlers with a Necas trade package. This does appear to be the ideal trade partner for what Winnipeg and Carolina desire in return for their top wingers.
Tulsky would likely like to have a contract extension with Ehlers before completing a trade with Winnipeg. In return, Winnipeg would more than likely desire the same with Necas. Of course, some additional assets would be included like future draft choices.
With teams around the league pushing for Ehlers and Necas to file for arbitration, it is not unlikely to see one or both players moved by the end of the weekend.