Carolina Hurricanes’ Martin Necas among those who can’t avoid NHL trade deadline noise

The Carolina Hurricanes practice had just ended Wednesday at PNC Arena when the word began to filter around the locker room: Ottawa had traded forward Vladimir Tarasenko to the Florida Panthers.

It’s that time of the season. With the NHL trade deadline coming up Friday at 3 p.m., the noise surrounding trades and potential trades and wannabe trades and all the unending speculation only gets louder.

The players try not to notice. But how do they not notice?

“Obviously you keep up a little bit with what’s going on,” Canes forward Martin Necas said Wednesday. “You never know what can happen, you know. Maybe I will be with some other team at the end of the deadline. You never know.

“Some guys on a team, they know for sure that something is happening to them. You pay attention, but at the same time you don’t really care when you play games. You just try to play your best and whatever happens, happens.”

Necas, 25, wasn’t saying he hoped to be traded or expected to be traded by the Hurricanes. But he is aware his name has been mentioned in social-media scuttlebutt, podcasts and hockey talk shows.

“You can’t do anything about it,” Necas said. “Whatever the team decides to do, whatever is good for them to do to begin the playoffs, as players we’re just paid and we’ll see what happens.”

Necas was the Canes’ leading point producer last season, notching 28 goals and a career-high 71 points. The former first-round draft pick is in the final year of a two-year contract that pays him $3.5 million this season.

Necas, who will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights after the 2023-24 season, said there had been no contract discussions or negotiations as the season has moved along.

“No, nothing at all,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

It turned out to be an eventful Wednesday on the NHL trade front. The Senators sent Taransenko to the Panthers. The Colorado Avalanche acquired defenseman Sean Walker from the Philadelphia Flyers in a deal that sent Ryan Johansen to the Flyers, and also picked up forward Casey Mittelstadt from the Buffalo Sabres.

The Edmonton OIlers acquired forward Adam Henrique from the Anaheim Ducks. Another Ducks forward, veteran Frank Vatrano, is said to be in play and drawing interest.

The Vegas Golden Knights, the 2023 Cup champions, traded for defenseman Noah Hanifin from Calgary.

Canes president and general manager Don Waddell has said that while he has “kicked tires” on some players and possible moves, there could be no major transactions before the deadline.

“When you look at the list, there are not a lot of players out there where you say, ‘Whoa they’re going to make a difference for our team,’” he said.

Waddell was asked if he was confident the Canes’ centers — Sebastian Aho, Jack Drury, Jordan Staal and Jesperi Kotkaniemi — could handle the grind of the Stanley Cup playoffs or if he might look for an upgrade at that position.

“I think Drury has taken another step this year,” he said. “I think (Kotkaniemi) is better than a fourth-line center, but that’s how we’re using him right now.

“And if you get into trouble you’ve got Necas and (Seth Jarvis) who could jump over there. I don’t think we need to address the center position.”

Necas has had an interesting season. He had middling offensive numbers, especially 5-on-5, until an injury in the Canes’ Jan. 4 practice, when he collided with defenseman Dmitry Orlov in a drill.

After missing five games, Necas returned to score a goal in his first three games and then added his first career hat trick against Colorado on Feb. 8. In 18 games since the injury, he has 10 goals and seven assists, pushing his season totals to 19 goals and 43 points in 56 games.

What changed?

“I realized that I shouldn’t get frustrated and just tried to focus on every shift,” Necas said. “I was getting frustrated too much and that can get in your head when you’re not playing great. It was like I had a mental re-set and it definitely helped me.”

The Hurricanes, who host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, are second in the Metropolitan Division with a 36-19-6 record. They were six points behind the New York Rangers through Wednesday’s games.

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Wednesday he did not sense any rising tension among the players with the trade deadline on top of them.

“We don’t talk about it,” he said. “Guys are watching what is happening. But you control what you can control.”