Martin Necas had a breakout season with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2022-23, and the young star is focused on improving even more next year, rather than his next contract.

The 24-year-old is approaching the final season of a two-year, $6 million contract he signed in August of 2022, and he'll be a restricted free agent next summer. But that's not as important as getting off to a strong start in 2023.

“Maybe the first time before my contract year I was thinking about it,” Necas said at the NHL European Player Media Tour, per NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. “Now, I feel like I'm a little older, more experienced and I'm not really thinking about it. Whatever is going to come, is going to come. It's just about me playing well and being good for the team.”

The No. 12 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Necas set career highs with 28 goals, 43 assists and a team-leading 71 points across a full 82-game slate in Raleigh last season. It was a huge jump from the 40 points he put up in 2021-22.

“It was a nice bounce-back season, I would say, after a year that was disappointing for everyone,” Necas continued. “I was pumped to prove myself a little different than the season before. I had a great summer (last offseason). I had a great summer again this year, so ready to take another step and be better.”

Necas also played more during the campaign, averaging a career-high 18:25 time on ice, which was up from 16:11 in 2021-22.

“I feel like confidence makes a big difference,” he explained. “I came into camp, I was feeling great, and I started the season well. Got on the first power play, I was playing 6-on-5, overtimes. I was just feeling confident and, mentally, I felt like I got much better.”

Martin Necas believes that the Hurricanes are good enough to win the Stanley Cup next season — and that's the overall focus, rather than thinking about his next contract.

“Obviously, everybody wants to win, but, for us, we've been five years in a row in the playoffs, we're going to have a good team…We've got to start at camp, start game by game and just try to build our game to the playoffs [so] that we can take the Cup.”

The Hurricanes open a new season on Oct. 11.