Necas' breakout year with Avs includes 100-point season, playoff success and locker-room pranks

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DENVER (AP) — Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog arrived at his locker stall and quickly noticed his shoe had been restrung in reverse.

He knew the prankster in an instant — Martin Necas.

The forward from the Czech Republic feels more and more at home in Colorado since being acquired in a January 2025 deal that sent fan favorite Mikko Rantanen to Carolina ( he's now in Dallas ). Necas had a breakout season, too, as he skated on the same line with star center Nathan MacKinnon.

Finally, Necas feels up to speed. Like, literally up to speed.

Already fast, Necas worked on his explosiveness in the offseason in order to keep up with MacKinnon. It paid off with Necas' first 100-point regular season (38 goals and 62 assists in 78 games).

“He’s been huge for us all year,” said Landeskog, whose team leads the Minnesota Wild 2-0 heading into Game 3 of their second-round playoff series on Saturday. “He’s been super consistent. He’s been dynamic. He’s been dangerous.”

For that, Necas credits the advice of coach Jared Bednar, who told him to focus on getting into the middle of the ice more once he's inside the offensive zone. Of his 206 shots, 54 were from the high-danger zone in front of the net, according to NHL research.

“That really helped me, what Bedsy kind of taught me,” Necas said. “Not just to play on the outside, but be more on the inside.”

Another area of emphasis was defense. Bednar has been stressing that over and over, given that Necas, MacKinnon and fellow linemate Artturi Lehkonen frequently go against some of the top players on opposing teams.

“He’s put in a lot of hard work to be a trusted player defensively,” Bednar said. “He buys into that. His game has grown.”

Necas became only the third Czech player in NHL history to notch 100 points in a season, joining Jaromir Jagr (five times) and David Pastrnak (four). Necas got stronger as the season went along, too, scoring 16 goals in 26 games following his return from the Olympics.

About his No. 88 sweater — it's a nod to the player he idolized as a kid, Alex Ovechkin, who wears No. 8. When Necas was a teenager and a player in the Czech league, that number was taken.

“So I just doubled up,” said Necas, the 12th overall pick by Carolina in 2017.

About playing alongside MacKinnon, he labeled it as “great," because “he's one of the best players in the world," he said.

But it's also a challenge.

“We play with a lot of pace, so obviously you've got to think quick,” Necas said. "Once we built a chemistry, it’s way nicer and way easier to know where each other are.”

MacKinnon concurs.

“He's been unreal this season,” he said.

Last season, Necas had a so-so postseason with one goal and four assists in a first-round series loss to the Stars. His so-so production, though, was only magnified by what Rantanen did on the ice in that series — five goals and seven assists, including a hat trick in Game 7.

Necas went to work in the gym over the summer, focusing on exercises to make him more explosive on the ice. He increased his fitness level as well.

“Because you don’t want to peak in the first period and then slow down,” said the 27-year-old Necas, who has a goal and six assists through six playoff games this season.

The Avalanche signed Necas in October to an eight-year contract extension through 2034 and worth $92 million. When his contract kicks in next season, Necas will count $11.5 million against the salary cap annually, about $500,000 a year less than what Rantanen signed for with rival Dallas.

Necas knows this will be his hockey home, and MacKinnon & Co. his teammates, for years. It's peace of mind.

“Last year, I didn’t really count it as a year here, because it was so new and so different,” Necas said. “But this year, coming into the camp, everything felt right. It really felt like this is my home. It's always nicer to play that way.”

Case in point — the jokes on Landeskog, his locker-room neighbor at Ball Arena.

“What can I say about getting to know Marty this year? The answer is right there,” Landeskog said, pointing at his shoe that was the target of some friendly hijinks. "I don’t know how I’m going to retie this shoe now. So that’s what he spent his morning doing.

“I love Marty. Love him as a teammate, love him as an overall friend but also as a competitor.”

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl