6:55 a.m.: As of yet, a deal is not done, cautions TSN’s Darren Dreger. Unless the two sides can agree on an extension, Carolina may have to consider other options. Discussions about an extension are expected to resume this morning, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli adds.
6:17 a.m.: The Hurricanes and Stars have agreed on a deal to send Rantanen to Dallas in principle, Friedman reports, but it’s contingent on an extension being agreed to or extremely close. As of early Friday morning, that hasn’t happened yet.
12:18 a.m.: The eve of the Trade Deadline has turned into a thriller. Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, The Dallas Stars are working to land superstar winger Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes. News of this move comes just over an hour after division rival Colorado Avalanche acquired Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders.
This was certainly the move many were waiting for at this year’s deadline. Rantanen will leave the Carolina organization after just 13 games with the club. The Hurricanes traded top winger Martin Necas, young NHL center Jack Drury, a 2025 second-round pick, and 2026 fourth-round pick to the Avalanche in exchange for Rantanen in late January. The move came suddenly, and speculation that Rantanen wouldn’t sign the extension Carolina hoped for quickly formed. With a quick-forming impasse, Carolina has opted to flip Rantanen before their chance ran out.
Trade details haven’t yet been revealed, but the return will need to be expansive for a player of Rantanen’s caliber. He scored 25 goals and 64 points in 49 games with Colorado before his first trade. That’s an incredible 82-game pace of 41 goals and 107 points, which would have been well in line with Rantanen’s performances over the last two seasons. He was a star after just two seasons in the NHL, posting 84 points in his sophomore season. But Rantanen became a superstar in 2021-22, when he recorded 92 points in a full regular season then added 25 points in 20 games on Colorado’s Stanley Cup run. He followed it with a career-high 55 goals and 105 points in 2022-23. Even better, he showed he could do it again with 104 points last year.
Rantanen is a star – and became the preferred battery mate for Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon. Now, Rantanen will face the incredibly difficult task of playing across from MacKinnon as Dallas and Colorado battle for playoff standing. Both teams seem well on their way to a postseason berth, and stand as constant threats to make a late run once they make it to the playoffs.
Dallas will certainly part with key stars in the acquisition of a multi-time 100-point scorer. But Rantanen will inevitably join a loaded offense in Texas. The Stars rank fourth in the NHL in goals-per-game (3.40) – two spots ahead of the Colorado Avalanche (3.30). Their offense is led by top shooter Jason Robertson with 27 goals and 64 points in 62 games. Robertson is backed by Matt Duchene (63 points), Wyatt Johnston (59), and Roope Hintz (52). The Stars have dazzling young stars like Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque – the former a proven hot commodity and the later one of the youngest AHL MVPs of the 2000s. Neither has managed top scoring this season, which could help Dallas move on from a high-value item without hindering their top-echelon offense.
The cap implications of this move are sure to be interesting. Rantanen carries a reduced $4.625MM cap hit through the end of the season, after Colorado retained 50 percent on the original trade. That’s just narrowly more than Dallas can afford with their $4.60MM projected cap space. That could necessitate additional cap exchange in this swap. It will undoubtedly be an exciting trade – one that Friedman shares could unfold through the depths of the night.
If Carolina was going to trade Mikko Rantanen it was quite highly going to be to a west coast team not an eastern opponent. Dallas has the cap space to make it work & let alone sign Rantanen to a long-term deal as they will have $24.91M in cap space this offseason. We’ll see if Dallas & Carolina can make the deal work for both sides.
NO, they have Johnston, Bourque, Duchene, Benn and Lundqvist to re-sign. They would have taken up most of that cap space. They would have to trade a couple of these to sign Miko. Obviously, this trade will involve a 3rd team because the Canes have no cap space and won’t accept just futures.
I love how confident you were, just to be wrong.
@Johnny Z – dude you were wrong on this situation on every level.
No, originally the Canes only wanted a player to keep them competitive in the playoffs, here they accepted all futures!
Carolina better get 3 top end roster players, If not, Tulsky really blows this one, It has to be something like Stankoven, Bichsel, And Hintz.
Did they give up 3 top end rosters players to obtain him?
Carolina has zero leverage in this situation.
Not necessarily true. There might be another offer on the table for a team he’d sign an extension with. If so, there’s incredible leverage.
Rantanen and Johnston would suck up most of that $25m.
Great move Carolina. See you next year trading for a high profile player you think can be extended and failing miserably
I’d want Wyatt Johnston, as a Canes fan. If he is coming with a negotiated contract, it has to be at least Johnston or Robertson preferably, Hintz would be acceptable possibly as well with a sweetener. Stankoven and Bourque are too small.
I don’t think Carolina is gonna get the haul
some commenters here think he will.
Exactly, they miscalculated the trade to get him thinking they could extend him and are now forced to move him to get anything in return and people here think they’ll get a huge haul. Not going to happen.
The return likely depends on Miko signing an extension with the acquiring team.
I’d say Robertson , Hintz and Johnston are off the table but there is still a deal to be made
Haul only needs to equal one year of Necas, so the Canes win here.
Could there be a 3rd team involved so the return can be better for Carolina..
Rantanen’s asking price was pretty well known.
Did Dundon think he could talk him into taking a NON-hometown discount after he shunned the Avs?
If the return is light, this could be a historic self sabotage.
JOHNSTON + BORQUE FOR MIKO would not have to involve a 3rd party
Wow. Good pick up. I’m predicting Bichsel, Dadonov, Stankoven and maybe a 2nd for him.
Johnston is off the table, no matter what others are thinking here. Carolina won’t get the haul some fans might expect. It will be Stankoven and Borque most likely and if there would be no 3rd team.
Im going to guess Stankoven, Johnston and a first though Bourque is probably in play too. I mean they should get all three for a superstar but I have a feeling it will be 2 of the three with a first round pick.
I would be shocked if Dallas parted with Johnston.
So would I but you don’t get 100point superstars without parting with stats yourself
*stars
Johnston is a great player but he’ll never be on Rantanen’s level
His ceiling is PPG in my opinion which is amazing but hes no ramtanen
And he won’t cost nearly as much as Rantanen, who frankly hasn’t played like much of a superstar in Carolina.
No he hasn’t but let’s be fair hes a 100 point superstar. Yes his time in CAR has been not what many expected do we all think necas will continue what he’s done personally i dont..rantanen is a proven 100 point guy…he should return a kings ransom…I’d be disappointed with don waddell if CAR got otherwise and they are one of the leagues saaviest teams. Johnston will never be a superstar but he will he an 80 point star I believe that for sure..stank might be he might not be..and same with Bourque…I mean you don’t get superstars very often that’s why I believe in my opinion rantanen is worth a kk hes ramsom. Maybe they don’t get it but I’d be very upset as a Carolina fan if I didn’t get what he deserves..thank goodness im an oilers fan we never make bad decisions
Well, Don Waddell is in Columbus, so this might not work out so well for the Canes. ;)
How bout Miko and Orlov for Marchy, Harley, Bourque and a 1st
NO DICE! DEAL IS OFF, NO COTRACT FOR MIKO!!!!!!!!!!!!
The whole situation reminds me of the story of the Chinese farmer.
would you tell me what that means? Never heard that before.
Search “Chinese Farmer narrated by Alan Watts” on YouTube. Basically a fable about not rushing to judgement. Everyone was saying how the Mikko trade was the greatest thing ever and how he was going to put us (the Canes) over the top. Now it’s a different story. But it could end up for the best in the long run. No one really ever knows. Thus, the story of the Chinese farmer.
will do. Either way your right. no trade coming for him. 12M wasn’t enough.
read and remembered I heard it decades ago.Perfect answer to the trade. well done
This situation seems very un-Dallas like. I remain skeptical…..
Meanwhile Rob Blake continues to whistle in the dark.
I have a feeling it will be Stankoven and another roster player, but i could see Johnston who did recently decline an offer of an 8 year deal at $8M per season
It sounds like the Dallas, And Carolina deal is not happening now, Rantanen is clearly playing games, And has a specific team he wants to sign with this summer.
Darren Dregar is saying that the Rantanen to Dallas deal is not happening now.
didn’t he turn down Nate-money?