Persistent rumors link Carolina Hurricanes striker Martin Necas to the Montreal Canadiens. As a relatively young established player who has not yet reached his full potential, as was the case with Kirby Dach or Alex Newhook, the Czech has a profile worthy of intriguing Kent Hughes.

“There is a lot of potential that has not yet been exploited. What you see is not his peak. He can give more,” assures someone named Alex Kovalev on the phone, who has agreed to contribute to Necas’ development remotely via Zoom or FaceTime sessions.

But who is Necas, this young man that Kovalev has taken under his wing? Does her well-known desire to leave Carolina hide a prima donna side that is cause for concern? TVASports.ca has tried to answer these burning questions.

“He was 16 when I arrived in Brno [en République tchèque]remembers Quebec striker Alexandre Mallett. It weighed 130-140 pounds, all wet. In the playoffs, he was the smallest in the league and was the first to get to the corners.

“You’re playing against men, is*, 35 years old. He came in, the puck was in the corner and bam! He would get smashed and get back up. You say to yourself, ‘Sh*t! That young man had the same dog in tab*****!'”

A player who speaks highly of his former teammate. No surprises here, one might say. However, Mallett does not say the same about Filip Zadina, with whom he played in Pardubice before meeting Necas.

“I saw some young people who knew they had potential,” says the former Rimouski Océanic striker. Little Zadina was: “Me, me, me…” Little Necas did his own thing, he respected everyone. It’s a good thing Jack. I know I was around him six years ago, but I would be really surprised if he had changed.

“Zadina, if he didn’t have his numerical advantage, it would suck. Same thing, at 16! I knew my little Necas had much more potential…”

However, Necas benefited from better supervision.

“Martin Erat was there too,” Mallett says. He was his mentor. He was quite a leader. I saw former NHL players look down on you. Not him. He took Necas under his wing and showed him how to run a power play.”

Kovalev rebuilt his game

Necas has long had a bright future ahead of him. After all, he was selected just outside the top 10 (12th overall) by the Hurricanes in the 2017 draft. However, it took some time for his great offensive talent to manifest itself most clearly, namely in goals and assists. It was only last season, 2022-23, that Necas began to establish himself as a strong forward with a tally of 71 points.

This also coincides with the beginning of the cooperation between Kovalev and the young man.

“We had to change a lot of things,” the man we called “the artist” explains in an interview with TVASports.ca. Changes had to be made in every aspect of his game. His biggest sin was leaving dangerous areas. We changed his running paths and his movements so that he is more often the center of the action in the offensive zone.

And the work is far from finished, emphasizes Kovalev, an extremely demanding trainer, no doubt because he has high goals for his student.

“He has to learn to be more unpredictable,” stressed the former Habs number 27. We’ve worked a lot on that over the last two years. He can’t just play in a straight line. He has to vary his routes a little. There are a lot of factors to consider: how to handle the puck, who to pass it to, how to recognize opposing players in tight spaces… It’s complicated to explain because a lot of variables come into play.

To implement Kovalev’s lessons, Necas needs some freedom on the ice.

“He needs to be in an environment where the coaches trust him,” Kovalev said. Some coaches want their team to play a certain style and achieve certain things on the ice. My vision is this: If you see a very talented player, you give him the chance to use that talent and you don’t handcuff him.

Kovalev never explicitly mentioned anything like this, but let us assume that the environment he describes is very similar to that built by Martin St-Louis in Montreal.

“Necas is a hard worker,” Kovalev added. He’s always working hard on his game. He’s put a lot of effort into becoming a better player. You can feel his desire to improve.”

It remains to be seen what comes next for his pupil. Although he has expressed a desire to be traded, Necas doesn’t get much of a stick due to his status as a restricted free agent. Has Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon forgiven the Canadiens for the hostile offer on Sebastian Aho now that a new regime is in place in Montreal? The businessman should be even more involved in his team’s hockey activities than he has been now that Don Waddell is gone…