Landing Martin Necas in a late-offseason trade would launch the St. Louis Blues into the playoff conversation

In case you’re wondering, the answer is yes, Martin Necas is still potentially on the trade block despite his re-signing with the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this year. And while the St. Louis Blues remain committed to getting younger and building through their prospects pool, we also know how incredible of an asset Necas would be in the Lou should general manager Doug Armstrong make a trade for him. 

And why not, considering Necas is still young enough to fit what the Blues are trying to do, except he’s more of an established talent. He will be entering his age-26 season, meaning Necas is in the thick of what should be a long prime, and a trade to St. Louis means he would join a team that has dynamic scorers in Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich, Jake Neighbours, and Robert Thomas. 

Sure, Necas’ production declined last season to 53 points and 24 goals, 18 points fewer than the 71 he had in 2022-23 when he found the net 28 times and logged 43 assists. Still, adding him would make the Blues one deep team at forward, and really, it wouldn’t be that hard to entice the Hurricanes with a decent trade package. 

St. Louis Blues could be a playoff contender if they acquired Martin Necas

The Carolina Hurricanes want to make a deep playoff run, and the Blues wouldn’t mind getting back to the playoffs. Acquiring Necas would bring St. Louis one step closer, and a deep team like Carolina shouldn’t have much of an issue moving Necas if it meant adding one more solid blueliner to their unit - someone like Justin Faulk or Nick Leddy would be part of this deal and shouldn’t have an issue waiving their respective clauses if it meant playing in Raleigh.

Necas and a proven blueliner wouldn’t be the only two players involved in this hypothetical trade package, or at least it’s what any reasonable fan would realize. But they would be the two main factors in such a trade that would benefit both teams in separate conferences. 

Overall, Martin Necas could stick around in Raleigh, but if we’re talking about a potential late-offseason trade involving the ‘Canes, he’s the most likely player to move. With the Blues perhaps one scorer away from making a serious run at the playoffs this season and with a logjam on the blue line regardless of what happens with Torey Krug, they need to inquire about one of the league’s better up-and-coming players. 

(Statistics powered by Hockey-Reference)