Will Martin Necas maintain his eye-popping season with the Hurricanes?

The Carolina Hurricanes are off to another hot start, going 9-2-0 with 18 points, including a 6-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night. Forward Martin Necas had a goal and assist in that game, bringing his season totals to seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points, leading the team in all offensive categories.

Taken No. 12 overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Necas has patiently developed through his first five full NHL seasons, including a career year in 2022-23, scoring 28 goals and 43 assists for 71 points. After a taking a small step back last season, Necas now looks like he’s back in the driver’s seat, producing at a rate that puts him among the league’s best.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss Necas’ hot start and whether the Czech center can take the next step and be one of the league’s elite game breakers.

Frank Seravalli: I think he’s a guy that, in his last six-game stint has been eye-popping on a lot of different levels, and the production is way outside the norm of what you’d expect from him, based on his career track level. He’s vaulted into that next level.

I was just on the phone with a front-office executive who said Necas might be the ‘Canes biggest game breaker. Some might view that as a backhanded compliment, but that’s not where I’m going at all. Sebastian Aho is a cerebral player but I’d put him more in the Aleksander Barkov-type conversation. That’s what Carolina needs.

Could he change the complexion of their season?

Tyler Yaremchuk: You took the words out of my mouth. We sit there and think, “Aho is good but he’s a notch below what you need,” and “Andrei Svechnikov is good but he’s a notch below what you need,” but if Necas is that guy, you look at that group and think they’re exactly what they need.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…