Major trade reported to happen before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final

Fans are impatiently waiting for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers to kick off on Saturday night, but they might get some exciting hockey action beforehand.

That’s because insider Frank Seravalli strongly believes that a major trade could take place before Game 1 of the Finals as he reports how Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas will be traded prior to the first contest, stating he “wouldn’t be shocked” if it were to happen.

He went on to list the Columbus Blue Jackets, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks as three teams with strong interest in him.

Necas’ name came up in trade chatter as soon as the Hurricanes’ season came to an end in Round 2 at the hands of the New York Rangers. The rumours got later when Necas’ own father revealed to the world that his son was looking for a trade. In an interview back home in Czechia, Necas’s father explained how his son would like to play somewhere other than Carolina, on a first line and on the first power play. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour never used Necas in such a way, stapling him to the right wing for much of his past five seasons with the Canes. Necas has still put up impressive numbers in Carolina, leading the team in scoring in 2022-23 with 28 goals and 71 points, while recording 24 tallies this season with a total of 53 points.

Necas is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this offseason as his two-year, $6 million bridge deal comes to an end, the belief is that he will be wearing a new uniform comes October.

Insiders like Seravalli and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman have recently linked Necas to the Canucks, saying how Vancouver has held interest for the forward since last summer. Necas would look great next to Elias Pettersson up front, though the return, possibly defenseman Filip Hronek might be too steep of a price for the Canucks.

Seravalli also mentioned that the Flames are also very much among the interested teams in the market for the 25-year-old forward, which means we could get a trade out to Canada for Necas, just days before a Canadian team, the Oilers, get the chance to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 31 years.