It’s time for some more NHL rumours. We’re nearing the start of training camp, but general managers are already thinking about next off-season. Several major contracts are set to expire on July 1. That means GMs are in overdrive to get extensions done before players hit the open market. We’ve talked about plenty of these big-name players in a number of these NHL rumours reports.<\/p>\n
This time, we turn our attention to the Colorado Avalanche.<\/a> We provide an update on the current status with Colorado and one of their key scorers.<\/p>\n All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.<\/p>\n Rumour: Corey Masisak of The Denver Post<\/a> discussed finding a contract figure for speedy forward Martin Necas<\/a>, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.<\/em><\/p>\n Analysis:<\/em> Necas came over last season as part of the blockbuster Mikko Rantanen<\/a> trade with the Carolina Hurricanes.<\/a> The Czech forward scored 11 goals in 30 regular-season games with Colorado and added a goal in seven Stanley Cup Playoff games.<\/p>\n In our Puck Drop Preview,<\/a> we have Necas sharing a line with Nathan MacKinnon<\/a> and Artturi Lehkonen<\/a>. This combination could lead to a great offensive season for the 26-year-old forward.<\/p>\n However, this could lead to some worry for Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland. We’ve already seen him trade players who were heading into the final year of a contract. Necas is looking to be a key cog in the offence, but MacFarland doesn’t want to let him walk for nothing.<\/p>\n The Rantanen situation was a messy one, and management likely wants to avoid that situation. However, there are a number of other factors that will play into Necas’ next deal.<\/p>\n The first big factor is what happened this off-season. Both Rantanen and Mitch Marner<\/a> took a little bit less than what they could have gotten on the open market. Rantanen got a massive deal from the Dallas Stars<\/a>, while Marner took a big deal from the Vegas Golden Knights.<\/a><\/p>\n Masisak mentioned that the Avs are going to want Necas to sign to a number that works for them. Necas is in the last year of a deal that’s seeing him get $6.5 million per season. He’s definitely due for a raise from that number.<\/p>\n One other factor that will possibly play into a new deal is that of the current crop of players seeking extensions. Players like Connor McDavid<\/a>, Kirill Kaprizov<\/a>, Jack Eichel<\/a> and others will set the market and have a knock-on effect. Higher numbers could pull up the value of other players, and that includes Necas.<\/p>\n Sites like CapWages<\/a> project that Necas could get over $9 million if he decides to go the long-term route. A shorter-term deal<\/a> could see something along the lines of $10 million.<\/p>\n The other main factor is Cale Makar<\/a>‘s next contract. He’ll be eligible to sign a contract extension<\/a> on July 1, and he’ll command a massive number. Makar will likely become the highest-paid defender in the league. This impending contract will also play into what Necas could receive.<\/p>\n Main photo by: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s time for some more NHL rumours. We’re nearing the start of training camp, but general managers are already thinking about next off-season. Several major contracts are set to expire on July 1. That means GMs are in overdrive to get extensions done before players hit the open market. We’ve talked about plenty of these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":471400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,4547,34,4548,4321],"tags":[1515,7080,7153,944,301],"class_list":["post-474309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avalanche","category-hockey","category-news","category-nhl","category-rumours","tag-cale-makar","tag-chris-macfarland","tag-colorado-avalanche-rumours","tag-martin-necas","tag-mikko-rantanen"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474309"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":474311,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474309\/revisions\/474311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}NHL Rumours<\/h2>\n
Where Things Stand Between the Colorado Avalanche and Their Czech Forward<\/h3>\n
What It Means<\/h4>\n