Will Martin Necas play himself out of Colorado, and Patrik Laine play himself out of Montreal?
Sportsnet’s Michael Amato: Martin Necas scored a career-high of 83 points last season and could join Nathan MacKinnon in the top 90 this season. With the rising cap and recent comparable numbers, Necas will be looking for more than $10 million per season. He might not be far off Mikko Rantanen’s $12 million. Will Necas price himself out of Colorado like Rantanen did?
Necas likely won’t get more than MacKinnon’s $12.6 million, but an extension for Cale Makar will be more. Makar is eligible for an extension this season, and he could join Kirill Kaprizov’s ranks. A figure of $10-11 million for Necas could make things tight.
Do the Avs play Necas all year and possibly lose him for nothing, or move him before the deadline like they did with Rantanen?
Patrik Laine appears to be falling out of favor with head coach Martin St. Louis dating back to the end of last season. Laine played on the fourth line while carrying $8.7 million in the final season of his contract. The 27-year-old could be looking for a change of scenery next season if he doesn’t turn things around.
Unanswered questions and family kept Evgeny Kuznetsov from returning to the NHL this season
Sammi Silber of The Hockey News: 33-year-old Evgeny Kuznetsov said he did have NHL offers, but ultimately decided to sign with Metallurg of the KHL. He told MatchTV that he wanted to play in the KHL for at least another year due to unanswered questions about his game.
There was a rumor that the Pittsburgh Penguins were one of the interested teams, but Kuznetsov said that wasn’t true.
“I had no option with Pittsburgh, they immediately said no.”
Kuznetsov noticed this Sport Express that he also wanted to stay close to family.
“I don’t know why no one believes I had NHL offers. I just didn’t want to go back to it myself. Like I said, there are too many questions about my game from people who, in my opinion, don’t understand hockey. And I don’t want to prove anything to them, but to please (my) family and friends with a good season. So I didn’t want to go far – I wanted to be there for parents, children, wife, maybe even a grandmother who could come to the games.”
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumors overviews and hot topics from around the league. We also post some stuff Instagram.
#NHL #Rumors #Martin #Necas #Patrik #Laine #Evgeny #Kuznetsov