Around the NHL 2024-2025

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Holy shit

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Holy crap Carolina!

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Holy Hell Hurricanes. Hall AND Rantanen in the same deal????

 

[sfvega]

Very interested in the return, but as of now this is huge for the rest of the Central.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Big fan of this deal as a Blues fan! Get Rantanen out of the division.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Made a joke that Kotkaniemi was getting traded to the Avs with Necas in the trade thread. I somehow ended up not joking hard enough.....

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Made a joke that Kotkaniemi was getting traded to the Avs with Necas in the trade thread. I somehow ended up not joking hard enough.....

That's my favorite part of the deal.

 

[TheOrganist]

I am a Necas fan but I would’ve gone after a pretty big futures haul if the assessment was that a divorce with Rantanen was inevitable. Necas by all accounts is set on testing free agency and wants big $. Colorado gets 1.5 years of him but just took a huge blow to their Cap aspirations. They have a weak prospect pool. Rantanen is probably the best player to get traded in years. Seems like taking a forward looking approach by maybe taking a step back would’ve been best.

 

[StlBigFly]

i went to the main area and tried to tell those people the avs were gonna move him and they were all pissy at me


Makar is due the following year. Avs would have murdered their competitive window if they paid MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Makar all at the start of an inflation cap when players are seeing $$$

May mean Rantanen hits ufa. I don’t think Carolina will give him 13.5x8

Would be wild if they closed on Crosby the same night….

 

[Xerloris]

i went to the main area and tried to tell those people the avs were gonna move him and they were all pissy at me


Makar is due the following year. Avs would have murdered their competitive window if they paid MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Makar all at the start of an inflation cap when players are seeing $$$

May mean Rantanen hits ufa. I don’t think Carolina will give him 13.5x8

Would be wild if they closed on Crosby the same night….

I would give him 9x8 only.

 

[tfriede2]

So Rantannen to the Canes? That's very interesting

And Necas to Colorado. Didn’t see this doozy coming

 

[StlBigFly]

I would give him 9x8 only.

Perhaps pre-Draisaitl

Rantanen shifts to 2C occasionally for matchup reasons. He scores at high rates in the playoffs and 5v5. Hes gonna get what draisaitl got I think, and inflation too.

Side note: if anybody was wondering how draisaitl would do if he didn’t have McDavid then you’ll maybe get an idea watching Rantanen without MacKinnon.

 

[Eldon Reid]

What is Chicago doing???? You retain 50% of Rantanen salary and trade Hall away and all you got was 3rd round pick?????????

 

[PeoriaBlues309]

I would give him 9x8 only.

He’s easily worth $11Mx8

 

[Xerloris]

He’s easily worth $11Mx8

Don't need a dude that misses playoff games because of russian hookers.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

I am a Necas fan but I would’ve gone after a pretty big futures haul if the assessment was that a divorce with Rantanen was inevitable. Necas by all accounts is set on testing free agency and wants big $. Colorado gets 1.5 years of him but just took a huge blow to their Cap aspirations. They have a weak prospect pool. Rantanen is probably the best player to get traded in years. Seems like taking a forward looking approach by maybe taking a step back would’ve been best.

I would think they could afford Necas but not Rant, i think their plan is to keep him. Necas fits their current window.

 

[PeoriaBlues309]

Don't need a dude that misses playoff games because of russian hookers.

That wasn’t Rantanen. That was Nichushkin.

 

[Xerloris]

That wasn’t Rantanen. That was Nichushkin.

Ah yes, you're correct. Hold on, I'll think of another reason why he's a scumbag.

 

[Ranksu]

Finnish team.

 

[PeoriaBlues309]

Ah yes, you're correct. Hold on, I'll think of another reason why he's a scumbag.

Him owning us for years is good enough reason lol. Will be glad he’s not on that team anymore.

 

[Reality Czech]

Perhaps pre-Draisaitl

Rantanen shifts to 2C occasionally for matchup reasons. He scores at high rates in the playoffs and 5v5. Hes gonna get what draisaitl got I think, and inflation too.

Side note: if anybody was wondering how draisaitl would do if he didn’t have McDavid then you’ll maybe get an idea watching Rantanen without MacKinnon.

Aho is no slouch. I sure as hell wouldn't pay Rantanen $13 million or more though.

Whopper of a deal that can't truly be assessed yet. Will Rantanen or Necas extend with their new teams? Will Carolina go deep in the playoffs? Will Necas continue to look like a first line monster or regress to more of a second line talent?

All we can say at this point is that Chicago lost the trade lol

 

[BlueOil]

saavy stuff from carolina! rantanen might be expensive but he's a clear tier above necas. i get that the avs have to pay makar soon, but going from 3 top nhl players down to 2 arguably hurts their cup chances as much or more than paying rantanen might have. colorado continues to make frugal moves, but with mackinnon and makar in their primes, still feels like they're wasting the chance by not getting more done to make them a true contender. i'm sure they'll add some more recognizable depth or replace their 2C (again), but i doubt it'll make up for losing rantanen.

edit: interesting (dramatic) commentary from strickland and lebrun

 

[TheDizee]

refalanche are on the downturn

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Ah yes, you're correct. Hold on, I'll think of another reason why he's a scumbag.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I think the Avalanche have done what more teams in their situation need to do and that's make the difficult decision to cut loose a player who's looking for a huge payday when you've already got a couple elite players on the roster with huge contracts. It's going to be really difficult to ice a team with enough depth when you have three huge superstar contracts. Mishandle this situation and you risk losing Cale Makar in 2027.

It's the same situation that Edmonton is going through with McDavid (no brainer) and Bouchard this offseason. Edmonton, being a poorly run organization, will hand out a fourth large contract to Bouchard and watch as their team struggles to get out of the first or second round over the next decade because they lack the depth to field a good enough team to do so.

The Avalanche's underlying metrics have looked pretty ugly over the last 10 games. They haven't racked up back-to-back wins since the new year, I believe, and I think they realize that they can't win consistently while getting offense from one line. Sucks to trade away a superstar, but long-term this could be for the best, though as a Blues fan right now, I'm pretty pleased to see them move Rantanen out of the division.