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

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

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

Really the only way I could see that happening is if he struggles in Carolina, then finds out that his agent wasn't listening to his requests and had hard balled him out of Colorado.

 

[tarheelhockey]

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

Because if they didn’t, they’d be the ones over a barrel and the NHL has a long long history of taking advantage of their leverage over players.

 

[slobbergob]

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

Nate absolutely cared about money lol. He's mentioned not being a fan of having the "best contract in the NHL" a few times.

That doesn't take away from the fact that Mikko shouldn't make more than him on the Avs, especially since Makar's contract is coming soon which will be higher than both Mack and Mikkos.

 

[Avsfan1921]

Hey you're maybe not gonna want to hear this but Spencer Martin's stats are worse than Georgiev's this year sooo....

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

It’s not a contest however the way you present it sure makes it look like you want it to be. And the bolded reaffirms that it appears that way. I guess a certain stretch is the season? In the end it doesn’t matter but your take makes it look like you wanted to use goaltending as an excuse while calling out others for doing the same.

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

Ppl crapping in the Hawks part in this is wild. Hall has zero value with that contract. Cap space and a 3rd is great for them.

 

[Avs2022]

The Colorado Avalanche are owned by someone who owns the the LA Rams, Denver Nuggets, and Arsenal. They’re not a team with limited funds.

Whats crazy is that over a 3 year stretch, the Rams, Avs, Nuggets all won the championship in their respective sport.

 

[Breakers]

wasnt Mackinnon suppose to act as a ceiling

I mean 12.6 is the max by that scenario

So 12.3 x 8 sounds hella reasonable

 

[dirtydanglez]

the more i think about it the more i think the avs hit a home run with this trade.

 

[Avsfan1921]

wasnt Mackinnon suppose to act as a ceiling

I mean 12.6 is the max by that scenario

So 12.3 x 8 sounds hella reasonable

For a team with cap space maybe, we couldn’t even afford to activate our captain this year without pulling shenanigans. That’s with him at under $10 million. Add in a new $12.3 million contract next year along with activating Landeskog and our (lack of) depth is going to get hit even harder. That’s not hella reasonable for a team with cup aspirations.

 

[sxvnert]

If Rantanen was willing to take a "significant discount" or the 11.75 nonsense Friedman is pushing then Avs GM would have signed him. Rant is completely full of crap and butt hurt that Avs management called his bluff.

 

[sticker76]

Some very interesting takes here. I am a Carolina fan, I like the trade, but I'll like it more if we win the Cup/extend Rantanen, otherwise, yikes. But I see a lot of takes here from fans (not sure of what teams) that Necas can play C, no he can't and never has at the NHL level. Lots of Avs fans saying Rantanen doesn't play defense and maybe that is why he didn't play C or he couldn't drive line by self. I promise you Necas' defense is no better, in fact it's probably worse. Necas looks great and will dazzle with skating and stickhandling and has a great one timer on PP, but for all his skill, he has never been consistent and we are seeing that again this year. He was leading league in scoring and now has tailed off quite a bit.

Also as far as Canes losing Guentzel, they offered exactly what his agent asked for, but it was somewhat late and TB (lower taxes) came in and wanted him. As far as why Canes won't pay Necas, Rod didn't think he fits style of play, he's very much an individual player and not always effective at using his teammates.

I hope this trade works out for both teams and Canes will have money to give to Rantanen, but they won't give just because he will ask for it, they will want to see if he works with their system. It's a big gamble if it doesn't work, but if it does, Go Canes.

 

[tucker3434]

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.

I don’t think Carolina can let it get to that point. If the Canes are paying what he’s asking and he still wants to take a look around, cut your losses and bail as quickly as you can.

These get done early a pretty decent amount of the time. Most guys just want to see the number they’re after. Once they do, why wait?

 

[GirardSpinorama]

I don’t think Carolina can let it get to that point. If the Canes are paying what he’s asking and he still wants to take a look around, cut your losses and bail as quickly as you can.

These get done early a pretty decent amount of the time. Most guys just want to see the number they’re after. Once they do, why wait?

But then they are also going for a cup...

 

[Leafshater67]

Because if they didn’t, they’d be the ones over a barrel and the NHL has a long long history of taking advantage of their leverage over players.

I don’t think superstar players need agents. All he would need to do is go into a room, say he wants a 12m x 8 and he will sign one and leave.

For lesser players, sure but stars don’t need agents nearly as bad. Some end up getting screwed over by their agents and greed too.

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

Agent gets 5% though. He could keep that. And if he was serious about taking less, it would have been done. I love to see greedy players and agents get it back. He should have just taken the 11.75 x 8 and went on to win another cup or two

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Ppl crapping in the Hawks part in this is wild. Hall has zero value with that contract. Cap space and a 3rd is great for them.

Great is a stretch

 

[Boxscore]

Because if they didn’t, they’d be the ones over a barrel and the NHL has a long long history of taking advantage of their leverage over players.

I disagree completely. Not a player like Rantanen in 2025. If this was 1955 when player salaries were not disclosed and players were being railroaded... sure... but not today. Anyone can go online in 5 seconds and see what any player in the NHL is making. Rantanen is in an elite tier -- there are clear comps for a player like him.

However, the same issue would present itself... it's no longer what a player is "worth" in isolation... it's more about being able to pay him reasonable worth while keeping a contending team together in a cap world. Today, there's nowhere to hide -- player salaries, cap hits, and team payrolls are fully disclosed. Rantanen can figure out in 5 minutes what he "should be paid" as well as "what the Avs can reasonably pay" and he can sit down with the GM over a beer a work a deal... IF he wants to stay in Colorado.

Do you truly think a GM would try to tell Rantanen to his face that he's only worth 8.5 a year? Lmao... heck, you or I could represent Rantanen in our sleep. The issue is that players need to be direct with their agents and state their intent. Rantanen should have told his agent, "I know I'm likely worth 13.5 on the open market, but Nate took a bit less a couple of times... and Cale is up and will need a raise too... so tell the Avs I'm offering a hometown discount of 11.5 to stay. I want this deal put to bed by Jan. 1st... and I need to be kept in the loop daily."

Instead, Rantanen likely trusted his agent whose bluff was called. Lesson learned. If you want to stay in Colorado, either grow a set and demand your agent gets it done... or call the GM directly and work it out... or try to convince the NHL to remove the hard cap so you can have your cake and eat it too. Or, ultimately get traded, lol.

 

[Leafshater67]

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

Agent gets 5% though. He could keep that. And if he was serious about taking less, it would have been done. I love to see greedy players and agents get it back. He should have just taken the 11.75 x 8 and went on to win another cup or two

 

[OysterForever]

If Rantanen was willing to take a "significant discount" or the 11.75 nonsense Friedman is pushing then Avs GM would have signed him. Rant is completely full of crap and butt hurt that Avs management called his bluff.

What bluff? There's 31 teams in the league who would pay Rants $13M without a doubt

 

[Boxscore]

Agent gets 5% though. He could keep that. And if he was serious about taking less, it would have been done. I love to see greedy players and agents get it back. He should have just taken the 11.75 x 8 and went on to win another cup or two

Exactly. Could you imagine being offered $94 million in addition to the $58 million you've already made... to play hockey in a great city, for a winning team, and with some of your best buddies in the world... and your agents having the guts to tell you "it's not enough" and ultimately get you traded off the team to your surprise?

Let's be honest, this deal should have been put to bed over the summer... but that's what agents do... grind, grind, dig in, and put their own egos ahead of their players wants.

 

[Boxscore]

What bluff? There's 31 teams in the league who would pay Rants $13M without a doubt

Not really, but there are at least 20, so point taken, lol. However, Rantanen (and his agent) know the Avalanche cannot pay him the way teams with lesser talent could because those teams don't have Nate MacKinnon or Cale Makar on them.

Everyone on earth knew the deal right off the rip... in order for Rantanen to remain in Denver, he'd have to take about 1.5 less a pop than he would on the open market. This is no surprise. So, yes, the Avs called his bluff, because his agent felt like the longer it went on, the Avs would cave... pay him the 13 mil and trim elsewhere, and sacrifice depth. This time, the Avs told them, "You know the deal and we're not playing this game and dragging it out." I really like Rantanen, but good for them, tbh.

 

[HabzSauce]

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.

You guys can sign him for 8 years vs 7 from any other team. That's big plus

If canes offer 13Mx8, a team would have to pay 15Mx7 just to match

 

[WarriorofTime]

Exactly. Could you imagine being offered $94 million in addition to the $58 million you've already made... to play hockey in a great city, for a winning team, and with some of your best buddies in the world... and your agents having the guts to tell you "it's not enough" and ultimately get you traded off the team to your surprise?

Let's be honest, this deal should have been put to bed over the summer... but that's what agents do... grind, grind, dig in, and put their own egos ahead of their players wants.

Pure fantasy. I guess easier to blame big mean agents.

An agent will likely present options on the table along with potential strengths and/or weaknesses but it’s always a players agent. Some may defer to a recommendation more (“just tell me what you think I should do”), others have a more direct involvement.

Agents work for the client, it’s not the other way around.

You guys can sign him for 8 years vs 7 from any other team. That's big plus

If canes offer 13Mx8, a team would have to pay 15Mx7 just to match

It’s not a buy 7 years/get an 8th year free kind of thing. That doesn’t make sense. You figure the player would get paid someone their 8th year post signing. It should naturally lead to a lower aav but not as dramatic as you make it seem.

 

[HabzSauce]

It’s not a buy 7 years/get an 8th year free kind of thing. That doesn’t make sense. You figure the player would get paid someone their 8th year post signing. It should naturally lead to a lower aav but not as dramatic as you make it seem.

That's good point never thought of it that way but it's tough to predict at this stage what his next contract would look like. Maybe he signs 7 years UFA and when it expires, he signs a 8Mx4 for ex....but if he originally signed for 8 years, id imagine he would still get that 8Mx4 regardless, or even slightly higher depending on cap/his play/etc

 

[Coach Reggie Dunlop]

What are the chances of rantanen going to free agency this off season?

 

[yeaher]

If Rantanen was willing to take a "significant discount" or the 11.75 nonsense Friedman is pushing then Avs GM would have signed him. Rant is completely full of crap and butt hurt that Avs management called his bluff.

Yeah, if he wanted to make a deal he had all the time, he was holding for free agency and going to the highest bidder,