Martin Nečas is a Czech ice hockey forward from Nové Město na Moravě who plays in the NHL, where he has played for the Carolina Hurricanes and later for the Colorado Avalanche.
Martin Nečas is a Czech ice hockey forward who plays in the North American NHL. He was born in Nové Město na Moravě. In the NHL he first played for the Carolina Hurricanes, and since the winter of the 2024/25 season he has played for the Colorado Avalanche.[1]
Early career and the road to the NHL
In the 2017 NHL draft, Carolina picked him in the first round, 12th overall. He represented the Czech Republic at the under-20 world championships in 2017, 2018 and 2019. He made his NHL debut on 17 October 2017, but spent the rest of that season in the Extraliga with Kometa Brno. The following season he played in seven NHL games and scored his first goal on 16 October 2018 in Tampa. He spent most of the 2018/19 season with the Charlotte Checkers, with whom he won the Calder Cup.[1]
Czech Television described his position in the league at the start of one of the later seasons as considerably better than in the previous season, when he had returned to the farm team after a few games. For Carolina he then scored in a 4:3 shootout win over Montreal and was named first star of the game.[2]
Carolina Hurricanes
He played his first full NHL season in 2019/20, collecting 36 points (16 goals and 20 assists) in 64 games. In 2020/21 he had the best plus/minus rating on the team (+25). His most productive season was 2022/23, with 71 points (28 goals and 43 assists), and he did not miss any of the 82 games. In it he scored four overtime goals, which set a club record, and became the sixth player in NHL history to score three tying goals late in games in a single season. In 2023/24 he earned 53 points (24 goals and 29 assists) in 77 games.[1]
In the 2024/25 season he was named NHL first star of the month for November, having collected 22 points in 15 games. In October and November he had the longest point streak of his career, 13 games in a row, and on 24 October he scored his 100th NHL goal in Calgary. Before leaving the club he led Carolina with 55 points in 49 games. For Carolina he played 411 NHL games with 298 points and added 30 points in 59 playoff games.[1]
Move to Colorado
According to an announcement by the Colorado Avalanche, the club acquired Nečas and forward Jack Drury from Carolina in a three-team trade that also involved the Chicago Blackhawks. As part of the deal Colorado also received a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 draft. Mikko Rantanen went first to Chicago and then to Carolina.[1]
National team
Nečas represented the Czech senior national team at the World Championships in 2018 and 2024. In 2024 he won with the team.[1]