3 NHL teams remain in the mix for Martin Necas trade.

It seems like a forgone conclusion that Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas will be traded at some point over the summer, with both Necas and the Hurricanes seemingly prepared for a change of scenery as Necas enters the next phase of his National Hockey League career as a restricted free agent in need of a new contract.

The big question of course is what team around the NHL will finally step up and meet the price that the Hurricanes are currently asking for under the leadership of newly appointed general manager Eric Tulsky.

Although we won't truly know the answer to that question until the trade is finalized, NHL insider David Pagnotta recently shared some insight on what teams remain in the mix for the young forward. Pagnotta listed off three teams, only one of which was actually a playoff team in this most recent season. According to the insider, the Montreal Canadiens, Seattle Kraken and Nashville Predators all remain in the hunt for Necas, although Pagnotta did leave open the possibility that there may be more teams in play.

One of the big questions surrounding Necas will be what his next contract will look like and another, at least from the Hurricanes' perspective, is what kind of return will the Hurricanes be looking at while negotiating from a position of relative weakness.

Necas is coming off what was arguably the second best season of his relatively young NHL career, with 24 goals and 29 assists for a total of 53 points over 77 games last season. Necas is coming off of a contract that carried a very reasonable cap hit of $3 million per season, but will likely be hoping for something closer to the $6.5-$7 million range on a long term deal in the 6-7 year range with his new team.