Actually, I think there's a good chance this does end up pretty good for the Avs. I'm actually pretty happy that he's unsigned right now. (preferred traded)
Hench is right, if the Rantanen camp was willing to do 10M for 8 years, this would have been done a long time ago.
I see it this way -> what kind of numbers would Rantanen have to put up this season for him to get A LOT MORE than what he's probably already asking for right now ?
I mean if he's going to lead the league in scoring and win the MVP, sure he'd get a lot more but as of right now - the Avs probably don't have much to gain to re-sign him apart from making sure they keep him with the team long-term.
Sure, there's a chance he could very well walk away at the end of the season - and I have a strong feeling that IF that happens, it's going to be because Avs management have seen a lot of the worrisome aspects of his game that a lot of people (who actually watch the games and get what's going on) have also seen. There are a lot of people who share this opinion while many others who simply point at the scoresheet to suggest that he's producing so there is no real problem there.
If the Avs don't win the Cup and he puts forth the same kind of effort that we saw last season, I hope we don't re-sign him at all.