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Confirmed with Link: [Col/Chi/Car] Rantanen (50% by Chicago), Hall, Nils Juntorp to Car - Drury, Necas, 2nd, 4th to Avs, 3rd round pick to Chicago

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I've been a one of the more vocal Avs fans about the validity of a Rants trade, but I'll echo the sentiments that have been said.

A more rested Rantanen, a more motivated Rantanen, is one of the best players in the league. Jagr-esque, really. It wouldn't surprise me if he won the Art Ross next season just to say F-you.

That said, for at least 2 calendar years he's been a passenger on the Avs, and there's no way with their cap structure they could have continued to be a competitive team while paying him 13M+. He demanded too much and played himself out of town. I'm just shocked at the gall/balls this took from MacFarland.

Hopefully this trade works out for both teams. Carolina struck gold with the addition of Hall, and maybe this is finally your year. For the Avs this has larger repercussions beyond this year, and signals more moves to be made.

Expect him to look like the best player in the league some nights, and other nights to be frustrated because you know what more he can offer.
 
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I love Rants, and I think it gives closure to the Necas mess but I liked this a lot more when it was KK since it gave us closure there too.

While we improved and got a better player, even if we don’t fuss over the possible contract we didn’t really address needs other than size in the top six. We still are questionable at center. We still have questions in goal, defense isn’t what it was and feels like an unfinished sentence too. In fact, imo the only place we didn’t really need help was wing. We got two of those here. So in some ways it falls in line with the Borg just giving Rod the best pieces they can find and let him figure it out.

When he came at 50% I assumed he’s walking at the end of the season. I won’t feel otherwise until he’s officially signed. This is another rental. We paid a high price for it in my book as Necas will be close to impossible to replace, and we have a pretty questionable second line despite the improvement on the first line.

So….no one can say we don’t go for it because this is going for it. I didn’t think last years team was worth the effort, I actually liked this team better but I haven’t been seeing a cup contender. If we let him walk I’ll question this, but it’s going to be a fun ride!
 
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Freaky Styley said:
That said, for at least 2 calendar years he's been a passenger on the Avs, and there's no way with their cap structure they could have continued to be a competitive team while paying him 13M+. He demanded too much and played himself out of town. I'm just shocked at the gall/balls this took from
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100 point passenger. Talk about underselling a player. And yes, I know how phlegmatic Mikko can be, but calling him a passenger is laughable.
 
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Kaako Kappo said:
100 point passenger. Talk about underselling a player. And yes, I know how phlegmatic Mikko can be, but calling him a passenger is laughable.
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Believe what you want but I've caught most Avs games for the last decade.

When your linemate is on pace for back-to-back 140pt seasons, yeah you can be a 100pt passenger.

Rantanen was the 4th most important player on the Avs. Arguably 5th with a healthy Landeskog. Nichuskin impacts the game more for them. This isn't some hot take, I've been saying it for the last 2 years. Necas will likely be a 100pt player next to MacKinnon - almost any sure-fire top 6 winger would flirt with those numbers. Drouin is a ppg for the last calendar year only spending ~60% of the time with Mack.

Feel free to watch all the Rantanen tape you like and try to find a time where he takes over games by himself instead of piggy-backing off of 29 or 8. He's an elite finisher, no doubt. But not a guy I would feel comfortable allocating 13M+ to on a cap-strapped team. As I said in the same post, I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to win the Art Ross next year out of pure spite. But if he continued that level of effort for the following seasons I'd be shocked.
 
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Freaky Styley said:
Believe what you want but I've caught most Avs games for the last decade.

When you're linemate is on pace for back-to-back 140pt seasons, yeah you can be a 100pt passenger.

Rantanen was the 4th most important player on the Avs. Arguably 5th with a healthy Landeskog. Nichuskin impacts the game more for them. This isn't some hot take, I've been saying it for the last 2 years. Necas will likely be a 100pt player next to MacKinnon - almost any sure-fire top 6 winger would flirt with those numbers. Drouin is a ppg for the last calendar year only spending ~60% of the time with Mack.

Feel free to watch all the Rantanen tape you like and try to find a time where he takes over games by himself instead of piggy-backing off of 29 or 8
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I've watched hundreds of games of Rantanen playing, I don't need belief, I've my own eyes. This is classic post-trade copium. You don't cruise to top 4 in scoring in the past 5 years being a passenger. What black & white thinking, believing that it's only Rantanen benefitting from MacKinnon, and never the other way around. The guy probably would've broken 100 points in 2018-2019, had he not been injured & MacKinnon sure as shit did not score 140 points back then.

There's a couple of you guys on the Avs forums who've convinced themselves that Mikko is just some sort of a giant leech, even if it defies all logic. And this isn't just a narrative from the "past two seasons", it's been there his whole career. Hell, on the finnish hockey forums his thread name was "Mikko Rantanen - The Passenger" for many years, making light of it.
 
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Kaako Kappo said:
I've watched hundreds of games of Rantanen playing, I don't need belief, I've my own eyes. This is classic post-trade copium. You don't cruise to top 4 in scoring in the past 5 years being a passenger. What black & white thinking, believing that it's only Rantanen benefitting from MacKinnon, and never the other way around. The guy probably would've broken 100 points in 2018-2019, had he not been injured & MacKinnon sure as shit did not score 140 points back then.
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Dude check my post history. And if you have no life go back and watch Mikko's games the last 2+ seasons.

I agree, before than Mikko was pulling his weight. When Mack was hurt he stepped up big time. But whether it's because of big minutes, becoming complacent.. Mikko just hasn't been worth what he's demanding of his contract, and I will die on the hill that Nichuskin (on the ice) is a more impactful player. Rantanen is one of the most frustrating players I've ever watched because he has all the talent in the world but fails to use it on most nights.

I'm not sure how saying a guy can win an Art Ross is selling him short. You just don't want to seem to hear the reason the Avs weren't comfortable with meeting his contract demands and decided to trade him.
 
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Freaky Styley said:
I'm not sure how saying a guy can win an Art Ross is selling him short. You just don't want to seem to hear the reason the Avs weren't comfortable with meeting his contract demands and decided to trade him.
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I don't think Mikko or any other winger in the league is worth 14 million dollars per season, so that's not right. They traded him because they did not want to lose him for nothing. Good move. But it would be nice to, even once, see someone acknowledge that perhaps MacKinnon also benefitted from playing with Rantanen.
 
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Kaako Kappo said:
I don't think Mikko or any other winger in the league is worth 14 million dollars per season, so that's not right. They traded him because they did not want to lose him for nothing. Good move. But it would be nice to, even once, see someone acknowledge that perhaps MacKinnon also benefitted from playing with Rantanen.
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Good players all benefit by playing with each other.

Bottom line is this trade was made because Mikko wasn't willing to take less than MacKinnon, and if you can't carry your own line you shouldn't be making 13M+ regardless of your point totals next to arguably the best player in the world.

The argument is that any legit top-6 talent could produce at least 3/4 of Mikko's production for at most 2/3 of the cost. And really production is the only thing Mikko brings. 100 points is the new ppg in the NHL, and MacKinnon could make 100pt players out of any guy capable of ppg.
 
Kaako Kappo said:
Lmao, that remains to be seen. I'm glad you think so little of scoring 100 points.
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:rolleyes: look at the change in NHL scoring in the past decade and get back to me. 9 players scored 100 points or more last season. 20 were on pace for 90 or more. Very similar to the full year following the pandemic.

In 17/18, only 3 guys surpassed 100 points. Jamie Benn won the Art Ross with 87 points ten years ago. Look at goalie stats. It's really easy to see scoring is on the rise, yet people equat 100 points to what it was 6 or 7 years ago.

In Carolina lamens terms: Seth Jarvis would probably be a 100 point player next to MacKinnon
 
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Kaako Kappo said:
Probably this probably that. It'll be interesting to see what happens. In reality it's a handful of players capable of playing at that pace consistently. Somehow Mikko's the only imposter, though.
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Even as a 90pt player, the Avs will take the 6M+ in cap space for the 15 less points. That's the bottom line of why they made this trade.

I always thought Rantanen was a perfect target for Carolina and I wish him/the Canes well. They are probably my favourite team in the East. Let's hope this gets them over the hump this season.
 
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Freaky Styley said:
Even as a 90pt player, the Avs will take the 6M+ in cap space for the 15 less points. That's the bottom line of why they made this trade.
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Where do you imagine you'll find these 90 point players at 8 mil cap hit? And do you think that the cap going up will only affect the salaries of top dogs?

Anyways, this has become useless speculation. I'm intrigued to see what happens in Avs and Canes now.
 
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Kaako Kappo said:
Where do you imagine you'll find these 90 point players at 8 mil cap hit? And do you think that the cap going up will only affect the salaries of top dogs?

Anyways, this has become useless speculation. I'm intrigued to see what happens in Avs and Canes now.
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Last time I checked Necas was on pace for 90+ points making 6.5 for this season and next..

Drouin is a ppg making 2.5M this year.. Jarvis, Thomas, Miller, Schiefele, Barkov, Reinhart, etc. etc. all capable of those numbers. Yes, the rising cap will affect all UFA numbers, but there are still value contracts to be found, and by the time guys capable of those numbers hit UFA the Avs window will be closed anyway.

This was also a move to keep Makar who will be earning close to 14M on his next deal and worth every penny.
 
Freaky Styley said:
Last time I checked Necas was on pace for 90+ points making 6.5 for this season and next..
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And what's he going to ask for if he scores 100 points on the Avs? Or are they just gonna keep trading their pending UFAs to another 100 point player ad infinitum?

Shit man, by your logic Necas is actually a better player than Rantanen, because he's on pace for 92 points WITHOUT MacKinnon and Makar. Maybe Canes got fleeced after all.
 
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Take care of the Moose for us Avs' fans.

Obviously getting a top10 player in the league, heck of a shot, especially along the far boards on the PP, skates well for his size, and can take face-offs, but still positionaly plays the wing after puck drop.

His downside though is you'll curse him out defensively though at times cause he's lazy. He actually led the Avs in PIM, and all minor penalties, mostly hooking or holding.
 
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Kaako Kappo said:
And what's he going to ask for if he scores 100 points on the Avs? Or are they just gonna keep trading their pending UFAs to another 100 point player ad infinitum?

Shit man, by your logic Necas is actually a better player than Rantanen, because he's on pace for 92 points WITHOUT MacKinnon and Makar. Maybe Canes got fleeced after all.
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Obviously a lot will depend on how he performs with the Avs.

If he's able to keep up the pace, perform in the playoffs and the Avs win a Cup next season he could probably demand 11m+... by that time the cap will be up and they are still saving at least 2M on a Makar extension. And they could let him walk because they have another Cup and who cares really.

If that doesn't happen, they are likely saving at least 3M for a player 2 years younger and extending their window. I'm not delusional that this doesn't hurt the Avs this season. It just offers them better depth at a minimal loss in production.

Canes need high end talent, Avs need depth. Good trade for both teams most likely, as long as Carolina can lock up Rantanen. I'm just explaining why this trade was made. IF Mikko was willing to sign for 12M or so it would already be done, and IF the Avs were confident he could carry his own line they would have paid him 13M+. Neither of those things are true
 
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