This is a really strange take. A pending free agent had an amount he wanted to get paid. He didn't pull anything.
It's not a strange take at all, unless we are pretending a hard cap doesn't exist in the NHL lol. Let's look at the facts...
1. The Avs have always been an "everyone needs to leave a bit on the table to keep the band together" organization. MacKinnon took less, multiple times, when he could have bent the club over the barrel.
2. MacKinnon was just re-upped, and Makar will be up soon. Rantanen and his camp know this. They easily see the forest through the trees. I mean, if the average fan knew he wouldn't get top dollar in Colorado, his agent sure knew.
3. The Avs publicly stated they were looking to "add" to team depth and continue competing for Cups. That comes with a price to some individual players... as Rantanen found out. How can you make the team better and deeper if the stars aren't willing to take less to do so? It's not fair, but blame the NHL and NHLPA for agreeing to a hard cap lol.
Does Rantanen deserve every penny he makes? Of course. Has he earned the right to fetch every penny possible as a UFA? Absolutely. But he, and everyone who was paying attention, knew he would need to take a nice discount to stay in Colorado.
My take only reflects Rantanen's own words post-trade. He said he was shocked, disappointed and wanted to remain in Colorado. Yet, he was not willing to leave enough money on the table to do so... or, imho, he actually WAS WILLING TO, but he didn't have control over his agent, who decided to leverage the Avs after helping their other client Draisaitl sign a massive $14 mil deal with the Oilers. That is a huge mistake or miscalculation by Rantanen, imo.
If Rants came out and said, "I know what I'm worth and Colorado just couldn't pay me that" then I wouldn't have my take. But he did the opposite... he said he was shocked and that he was willing to take much less to remain an Av. So. why didn't he communicate that to the Avs?? Or do we honestly think Colorado decided to move a fan-favorite and elite producer and teammate to save a couple hundred K?