Colorado Avalanche reliving Mikko Rantanen situation with Martin Necas' contract, per NHL insider

The Colorado Avalanche could be facing a similar situation with Martin Necas as they did last season with Mikko Rantanen.

During an appearance on B/R Open Ice published on September 16, insider Frank Seravalli discussed the implications of the ongoing contract saga between the Avalanche and Necas.

In particular, Seravalli highlighted how the Avalanche chose to trade Mikko Rantanen last season due to his contract demands. Fast forward to this season, and the player acquired for Rantanen, Martin Necas, has the Avalanche in a very similar spot.

Seravalli stated:

"I'm fascinated by what happens with Martin Necas and the Avs, because they're right back in the same situation now that they were this time last year with Mikko Rantanen, who didn't want to pay him what he was due.”

The prevailing chatter is that Rantanen wanted a deal in the neighborhood of $12 million AAV. The Avalanche weren’t comfortable with that number, so they traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Now, the Avalanche are back in the same spot. Martin Necas could command a cap hit similar to Mikko Rantanen’s, especially if he has a solid season.

Seravalli added:

“Now they acquire Martin Necas in that deal, north of a point-per-game player, and he wants to be paid. What does that number look like? How close is it to what the Rantanen deal looked like? And by the way, I'm sure they're hearing the Kaprizov turning down eight times 16 and thinking, man, we really should have done that Mikko Rantanen deal.”

The Avalanche will be faced with another tough decision. They’ll either have to pay to keep Necas or trade him like they did Rantanen.

Avalanche could trade Martin Necas like they did Mikko Rantanen

The Avalanche could be forced to trade Necas like they did Rantanen. Like most playoff contenders, the Avalanche are tight up against the cap. While a contract extension wouldn’t kick in until next season, when the cap ceiling is scheduled to go up, the Avalanche, nonetheless, may be reluctant to shell out the big bucks.

That situation means that the Avalanche could explore a deal involving Necas. It’s unclear what that trade could look like at this point or what team(s) may be involved.

The fact is that the Avalanche could be forced to move Necas for whatever they can get. Considering that Colorado is a playoff contender, they’ll have to be very careful about what return they could get.

Necas could be a good fit for a rebuilding team like the Pittsburgh Penguins or even the Boston Bruins. But then again, these clubs may not be able to offer the type of return the Avalanche might be expecting.

The next couple of months will be interesting as Necas and the Avalanche could be waiting to see what happens with Kirill Kaprizov in Minnesota. As Lyle Richardson noted in The Hockey News, there’s a chance Necas signs before Kaprizov, but the likeliest outcome is that Necas and the Avalanche will wait for Kaprizov to ink his new deal before they get one done in Colorado.

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Edited by Nestor Quixtan