NHL trade rumors: Top insider speculates $6 million Martin Necas to get ‘rare’ NHL offer sheet

RFA Martin Necas could be the target of an offer sheet, NHL insider Pierre LeBrun reports. Necas, whose two-year deal is set to expire, carried a cap hit of $6 million per season for the Carolina Hurricanes. While the club is expected to attempt to re-sign him, there is plenty of talk about the Canes shopping his rights.

As such, LeBrun asserts that if trade talks stall or the asking price is too high, interested teams could issue Martin Necas an offer sheet. At that point, Necas would have a choice of signing with a new club if the Hurricanes choose not to match the offer.

Here’s what LeBrun had to say on the matter:

“Offer sheets are pretty rare but one thing I’ve heard a bit this week on the Martin Necas front is a few teams wondering if that’s a plausible avenue if the asking price in trade talks with Carolina remains too high. Probably a long shot play, but something to file away.”

As LeBrun pointed out, offer sheets are a relatively rare occurrence in the NHL. The last two offer sheets involved the Hurricanes. The Montreal Canadiens issued an offer sheet to Sebastian Aho, which the Hurricanes matched.

Then, the Hurricanes issued an offer sheet to former Canadiens’ forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi, which Montreal did not match.

If an interested party chose to issue an offer sheet to Martin Necas, the Hurricanes would have to decide if they are willing to match.

The compensation for a Martin Necas offer sheet

If any club chose to issue Necas an offer sheet, and the Hurricanes chose not to match it, the Hurricanes would receive compensation for losing Necas.

Offer sheet compensation is based on the annual average value (AAV) of the offer sheet itself. Considering that Necas’ cap hit this past season was $3 million, it’s fair to assume that an offer sheet would be in the $4 to $5 million AAV range.

Now, here’s where things get interesting: If a team extends an offer sheet below $4.29 million AAV, Carolina stands to get one second-round pick as compensation. But if a team extends an offer sheet between $4.29 and $6.43 million, the compensation jumps to a first-round pick and a third-round pick.

So, would a team be willing to give up a first-round pick for Martin Necas? If a club wanted to sign Necas for under $4.29 million AAV, chances are Carolina could easily match it.

In short, Carolina is not going to let Necas get away for a second-round pick. If a team chooses to issue Martin Necas an offer sheet, it could ultimately work out in Carolina’s favor. They either get Necas at a much lower AAV or get a first-round pick out of it.