It’s a vibes thing for sure. And just a general sense of how he is, with regards to his pouty behavior in Carolina. The team was highly successful & has regularly been to the ECF’s. Yet he whined through his dad & agent I believe in the media about his contract & his place in the lineup. Which for a guy who prior to last year had only cracked 60 pts in a season once, pretty ridiculous.

I could be 1000% off base. But he just strikes me as a guy who wants to put up his pts & get paid. And if he wins that’s nice. But it doesn’t seem like priority #1 for him.

To be fair, Behrens actually looked NHL ready in his last season at DU. He actually probably didn’t get enough credit for being the defensive anchor that played his off-side to allow Zeev Buium to thrive offensively on his strong side. Losing a full season definitely set him back, but if he can recapture his form from before the injury quickly, he could be more of an NHL-ready option than we may realize.

intriguing… it’s where he started

Jeremy, I often wish there were an agree in part and disagree in part button I could push for your comments. I think your analysis in the first part of your post is very sound. It is the second part about which I’m less certain. I’m hesitant to generalize about player effort and desire to win. We all can name players who seem disinterested in the defensive part of their game (and I can’t say I’ve noticed this in Necas), but your post goes well beyond this. Is it a money thing, or more of a vibe thing for you in this case?

I agree. Anything over 8 – 8.5 would be too much. Personally I’d rather they just deal him away, but that’s a separate conversation.

Reinhart is a good comp. And is also a MUCH better more complete player. I think Necas is going to ask for 10 plus. And considering his age & the trajectory of his pt totals he knows he can get that on the open market. Which I’m sure he’s wanting to do. Reinhart signed that deal in FL with the lack of a state income tax. And also before everyone was informed as to how much the cap is going up year over year.

Necas doesn’t strike me as a guy who has a burning desire to win. The way he plays is indicative of that. All sizzle no steak. He wants to get a long term deal & get paid. The Canes weren’t going to oblige & the Avs would be foolish to do so. Point being I think he’ll be more than happy to go somewhere where they’re not on the cusp of winning as long as he gets his.

I don’t see them trading him, but who knows? Their whole off – season, minus re – signing Nelson has been a collection of weird choices.

Plus as you & others have mentioned he’s cheap, young & still has some untapped potential. And what would you even be dealing him for? On his own, he doesn’t have enough value to bring back anything they need. Unless they package him with something else to get another center. But then they’re looking at Keaton Middelton as a regular…please no.

The voice of reason…

Behrens missed all of last season with a catastrophic knee injury and has played one professional game in his entire life. He’s going to need at least a season of AHL action before he’s NHL ready. He may get a mid to late season callup as Aarif said above, but he isn’t a Malinski replacement any time soon.