Confirmed Trade: [CAR/COL/CHI] Mikko Rantanen (50%), Taylor Hall, Nils Juntorp to CAR; Martin Necas, Jack Drury, '25 2nd, '26 4th to COL; '25 3rd to CHI for retention

[PettersonHughes]

We’ll see if it lasts, but on Saturday they rolled a line of Hall-Kotkaniemi-Svechnikov which was really effective. It feels like three underachievers which is bad, but it’s also three big powerful guys who can crash and bang for possession, with some speed on the wings.

We can assume Rantanen skates with Aho, and Staal and Martinook are always going to skate together, so add a third guy to each of those lines and you’ve got your top 9. For now, Jarvis goes to the Staal line because he’s so good defensively.

That puts hot-handed rookie Jackson Blake on the first line, but Roslovic is still in the mix and is not going to be a 4th liner forever.

I don’t see Rod splitting Rantanen and Aho. Staal and Kotkaniemi are the sort of centers who just go stand in front of the net or grind along the boards. Pairing them with a high-level offensive winger is a waste of that winger’s talent.

Seems like JB has gotten quite some run with Aho so far, do you and Canes fans think he has the inside track in securing the #1 wing spot next to Mikko and SeaBass?

 

[Breakers]

the word "Significant" will be debated for a long time

 

[Alienblood]

So still no answer on what’s “enough”?

Why didn’t MacKinnon only sign for $9.5 million? Surely that would have helped the team even more. You’re still rich if you make $9.5 million. Was that “greed”?

I'm sure Nate would, he doesn't care about money. He has a responsibility to other players as well.

 

[Ruok]

If Rantanen was willing to take a paycut to stay in Colorado, any chance they just sign him again this summer? It would be kind of dirty but the avalanche would look like geniuses.

 

[EdAVSfan]

If Rantanen was willing to take a paycut to stay in Colorado, any chance they just sign him again this summer? It would be kind of dirty but the avalanche would look like geniuses.

Always a chance, but I’d say those chances are extremely slim. The AVS seemed to have a set price for him. He wanted more. Unless he comes down on his ask, and isn’t offended by the Avs, I don’t see it happening

 

[Boxscore]

I just saw an Instagram post from Rantanen to the team and he makes it sound like the trade had him all shook up like Elvis. I still blame the agent, lol.

 

[BagHead]

If Rantanen was willing to take a paycut to stay in Colorado, any chance they just sign him again this summer? It would be kind of dirty but the avalanche would look like geniuses.

I remember when Wild fans were saying this about Brent Burns. That guy bled Rust Red and Forest Green, even got a Wild tattoo. Turns out, loyal NHL players are loyal to the team they play for, not the one they used to play for. It's possible Rantanen just really loves Colorado so much that he's unwilling to love anywhere else, but I'm not sure it's likely.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

I'm sure Nate would, he doesn't care about money. He has a responsibility to other players as well.

Signing for $100K more than the highest paid player at the time doesn't exactly scream, "Doesn't care about money".

 

[LaineBOOM]

If Rantanen was willing to take a paycut to stay in Colorado, any chance they just sign him again this summer? It would be kind of dirty but the avalanche would look like geniuses.

Colorado signs him again this summer BUT only for 1 year. Then they trade him again at next year's TDL. Rinse and repeat!!

 

[CanesUltimate11]

If Rantanen was willing to take a paycut to stay in Colorado, any chance they just sign him again this summer? It would be kind of dirty but the avalanche would look like geniuses.

The loss of the extra year to lower the cap hit probably makes the chances lower now.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

The loss of the extra year to lower the cap hit probably makes the chances lower now.

0.10% -> 0.05%

 

[tucker3434]

100%. You wait ten years to have your own choice. Why/how do you give it up a couple of months before you get to the finish line? There should be no guilt about leaving your new team. You didn’t ask to be traded to them, and in this case to be traded at all.

I think it’s a poor choice to sign before hearing the options. It’s the rest of his career. I say this as a Canes fan.

$14x8=112 would give him some reasons. That 8th year goes away on July 1 and he’s not getting $16x7 from anybody. The canes would be dumb not to have an offer in front of him that couldn’t be matched already. Maybe he doesn’t want to live in Raleigh. There’s no accounting for that. But there should be no question that the contract there will be better than anywhere else.

 

[eojsmada]

Bizarre turn of events for sure. Wondering if McFarland simply wanted to walk from a second large contract knowing that Makar was in need of an extension and wasn't willing to handcuff his team, in terms of future competitiveness (i.e. Toronto).

 

[johan f]

Seems there has been lack of communications there.

 

[bleedgreen]

$14x8=112 would give him some reasons. That 8th year goes away on July 1 and he’s not getting $16x7 from anybody. The canes would be dumb not to have an offer in front of him that couldn’t be matched already. Maybe he doesn’t want to live in Raleigh. There’s no accounting for that. But there should be no question that the contract there will be better than anywhere else.

Do you believe there’s no contact with other teams before the bell rings the first day of the free agency?

If he really loves playing with Aho and enjoys the area of course he could sign early and you’re right - they’d be dumb not to be ready with a check. Yet they played with Guentzel right up until the end after it was too late to spend the money on Skjei and Pesce. We’ll hope they learned from that.

I’m just saying I never assume a player is going to sign in his new home as a rental. He can wait until the day before free agency, know all his options and make the decision then. There really isn’t a lot to be gained by signing early.

 

[milehigh11]

Doubt it but who knows. He didn’t return a whole lot and his team values him at sub 12 so my guess would be closer to 12 than 14z


Right, and even at 11.5 they have struggled to build enough depth to be competitive. Supports my point.

Their depth sucks cause the avalanche have sucked at drafting the past decade. Say for MacKinnon 1OA, Makar 4OA, Rantanen 10OA

 

[JKG33]

Haven't read the thread in its entirety so I'm not sure if it's been mentioned but the former NHL'er Jussi Jokinen brought up an interesting view on NHL broadcast the other day: given how renting Guentzel turned out in Caroline, the franchise may want to sign Rantanen quickly and if they don't see eye to eye they might end up trading him before the trade deadline. Now that'd be wild but there's definitely sound logic involved, they just can't let a high profile first line winger walk out without any compensation two years in a row.

I could see that, either as a pure rental or in a deal around a worse player that's signed longer. Someone like Pettersson, Robertson, Kyrou, Fiala, Barzal...

 

[Bruce Granville]

If Rantanen was willing to take a paycut to stay in Colorado, any chance they just sign him again this summer? It would be kind of dirty but the avalanche would look like geniuses.

Sure. The Avs didn‘t want to give 12.5 x 8.
For sure they pay him 14.1 x 7.

 

[elmaco]

Bizarre turn of events for sure. Wondering if McFarland simply wanted to walk from a second large contract knowing that Makar was in need of an extension and wasn't willing to handcuff his team, in terms of future competitiveness (i.e. Toronto).

There's a difference in locking up a potential dynasty vs the figs at Toronto. But that's propably what happened.

 

[Chrispy]

Btw isn't Taylor Hall a negative asset at his current contract?

At $6M I am sure Taylor Hall was an unattractive asset. Based on this deal, I'm guessing Chicago was having trouble moving Hall at $3M.

But here's the interesting thing: Carolina is spending more in payroll by acquiring Rantanen at 50% and Hall at 100% than they would have just picking up Rantanen at 100%. So why do it?

By getting Chicago to retain 50% on Rantanen ($4.625M) as part of a Hall acquisition, they effectively only added $1.375M to the cap to acquire Taylor Hall. Hall at $3M might be an iffy move; Hall at $1.375M is certainly worth taking a chance on.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Seems like JB has gotten quite some run with Aho so far, do you and Canes fans think he has the inside track in securing the #1 wing spot next to Mikko and SeaBass?

He’s been really good as a rookie, sharp offensive instincts and a fair amount of skill with his hands and feet.

That said, we know how it goes with rookies. Development curves are rarely linear and I wouldn’t overcommit to him being a top-6 guy the whole season. And of course he hasn’t had his “welcome to the playoffs” moment yet. Right now is a good time for him to be getting these top line minutes and feeling out his potential, understanding he’s probably destined for a lower role soon.

It’s a shame Rantanen skates on his off-wing. If his handedness were different, a line of Rantanen-Aho-Jarvis would be the terror of the league. The skillsets complement each other perfectly.

 

[kp61c]

If Rantanen was willing to take a paycut to stay in Colorado, any chance they just sign him again this summer? It would be kind of dirty but the avalanche would look like geniuses.

if he was willing to take a paycut why did they trade him in the first place? the answer is he was trying to bend them over the barrel, they took an exception to that and traded him.

 

[Leafshater67]

Teams don’t want to deal with these tough negotiations over and over. Shut up and sign or move along.

I don’t get why players like Mikko even need agents tbh.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Very true, Martin’s 9 gp to date has surely affected his team more than George did, playing almost every game for the Avs prior to the trade.

Let’s put it this way. Avs beat the Canes 6-4 when both goalies were in net. I’m not saying Martin has had a more negative impact compared to Georgiev overall. I’m saying he’s been a worse goalie this year and a big reason why the Canes were not winning games in the last part of 2024.

I get it George is awful. It’s not a contest I was just giving context in response to a post about Avs having a better record than the Canes over a certain stretch

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Teams don’t want to deal with these tough negotiations over and over. Shut up and sign or move along.

I don’t get why players like Mikko even need agents tbh.

It would probably be uncomfortable for Mikko to sit there and ask his GM for more than Nathan Mackinnon whose new contract kicked in just last season and who has put countless millions in his pocket. Easier to get the agent to do it