Nečas talked about his desire to represent the Czech Republic at the World Championship: is my NHL contract up? Who cares?

Martin Nečas was one of the biggest pillars of the Czech national team on the way to gold at this year’s World Championships. His contract with the Hurricanes is up after the season, but the star forward doesn’t have to worry about his future.

The Carolina Hurricanes forward joined the Czech national team at this year’s World Championship only for the penultimate game of the regular season against Great Britain. It was clear from the start that this was a man who would be the difference.

It was immediately apparent that Nečas was somewhere else in a good way. Movement, vision, technique, speed of play.

Of course, we can praise the whole team, which achieved a truly huge success. But if we were to single out one name, it would be this man who wears the same jersey number as David Pastrnak in the NHL. That’s number 88.

In five games at the World Championship, he scored one goal and six assists, making him the sixth most productive player on the Czech team. Did he finally have a breakthrough season this year? Definitely yes.

However, he is out of contract with the Hurricanes organization after the season, but his bargaining position is extremely strong after his gold medal triumph at the World Championships. He certainly doesn’t have to worry about his future in the NHL, he has interest in Florida, Vancouver, Nashville and American fans already see him in Boston.

Nečas: Who cares?

By the way, how did he answer the question about the end of his NHL contract, or whether he was considering playing for the national team because of it?

“Who cares? This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. You never know if you’re going to get back here, if you’re not going to play in the playoffs. I didn’t doubt that I would come, we arranged insurance with the national team and I came despite the injury. I have no words, this is what I always dreamed of,” said Nečas, quoted by Hokej.cz.

“As soon as we finished (with Carolina in the playoffs), my mind shifted here. I was already watching the games before that. The whole Czech Republic is alive with hockey, you see. The energy is unbelievable and the fans drove us all the way to the finals, which we did.”

Source: Hockey.cz, Elite Prospects, Ice Hockey World Championship 2024