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Fallout From The Mikko Rantanen Trade

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After one of the biggest in-season acquisitions since the New Jersey Devils acquired Ilya Kovalchuk for a massive haul in the 2009-10 season, more information has begun trickling out regarding Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes.

In an article in The Athletic (Subscription Required), Pierre LeBrun explains that only a few teams knew Rantanen was available. LeBrun indicates that Colorado’s first intention was to extend Mikko, but general manager Chris MacFarland had already called a few teams, saying they may call back about the Finnish sniper. 

Extension talks between Rantanen and the Avalanche had increased over the last few weeks. However, the ’Nathan MacKinnon-internal cap’ gave MacFarland the sense that Mikko wouldn’t sign an extension in the next five months. LeBrun believes Rantanen would have taken less money than Leon Draisaitl received from the Edmonton Oilers ($14MM) but wasn’t willing to make such a drastic cut that he made less than MacKinnon’s $12.6MM salary.

Unsurprisingly, Cory Lavalette from the North State Journal reports the Hurricanes have already had preliminary extension discussions with Rantanen’s agent. Given their history together on Team Finland, Rantanen is already familiar with Sebastian Aho, but he’ll want to get comfortable in Carolina before talks can progress.

As far as what that hypothetical extension may look like — Harman Dayal took a stab at that in a recent article on The Athletic (Subscription Required). Dayal argues that Rantanen’s fairest comparable is Boston Bruins’ forward David Pastrňák who was given 13.5% of the salary cap for the first year of his current contract.

Assuming the salary cap increases to the reported $97 million for next season, that would place Rantanen around the $13.1 million range. It’s already been made clear that Rantanen and his agent have other ideas, as he and the Avalanche likely could have worked out an agreeable salary should that have been the starting point.

Lastly, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman offered some insight regarding the main piece heading back to Colorado — Martin Nečas. Friedman asserts that the Avalanche were not the only team Nečas had been offered to. He believes Nečas was a part of recent trade discussions with the Vancouver Canucks for Elias Pettersson, but not for J.T. Miller.

The acquisition of Rantanen and Taylor Hall likely wraps up all of the headling-making trades for the Hurricanes. Still, despite the cap surgery required for the move, the Hurricanes could circle back on Miller if the Canucks are open to other players on Carolina’s roster.

Hurricanes Acquire Mikko Rantanen And Taylor Hall In Three-Team Swap

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Blackhawks winger Taylor Hall was a late scratch from their game tonight against Tampa Bay.  His absence wasn’t injury or illness-related, however, as he was traded to Carolina.  He wasn’t the only one on the move, however, as the Hurricanes also picked up Mikko Rantanen as part of a three-team swap.  The full deal, which has now been announced by all three teams, is as follows:

To Carolina: Taylor Hall, Mikko Rantanen (Chicago retains 50% of his contract), Nils Juntorp
To Chicago: CHI 3rd-round pick in 2025 (via Carolina)
To Colorado: Martin Necas, Jack Drury, 2025 second-round pick, 2026 fourth-round pick

Hall was widely speculated as a trade candidate going back to the start of the season.  Now in the final year of his contract (one that carries a $6MM AAV), the veteran recently indicated that he’d be open to remaining with the Blackhawks but admitted that a trade was the likeliest outcome.  That departure came a bit sooner than expected with the trade deadline still six weeks away.

The 33-year-old is in his second season with Chicago after being acquired in a cap-clearing move from Boston back in 2023.  He was limited to just ten games in 2023-24 though due to a torn ACL but he has remained healthy so far this season.  However, production has been difficult to come by this year as he has just nine goals and 15 assists in 46 games and was even made a healthy scratch earlier in the season.

In his prime, Hall was a legitimate top-line winger and even won the Hart Trophy back in 2015-16 while with New Jersey.  He has been a 20-goal scorer seven times in his 15-year career, most recently coming in 2021-22 with Boston.  While he’s no longer playing at that type of level, he should still be able to give Carolina a boost in their middle six.  A potentially long playoff run could also help him rebuild some value heading into free agency this summer.

As for Rantanen, he’s also in the final year of his contract, a deal that carries a $9.25MM price tag, one that the Blackhawks will eat half of to help facilitate the swap, leaving them with just one remaining retention slot for this season.  While Rantanen’s camp and the Avs were involved in recent extension discussions, the two sides were still well apart as of last week and clearly, they weren’t able to bridge those to either side’s satisfaction, resulting in Colorado deciding to move him now instead of run the risk of having him walk for nothing in free agency.  It was believed that the Avalanche preferred to keep Rantanen’s price below Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6MM while Rantanen’s side was eyeing Leon Draisaitl’s $14MM AAV (starting next season) as a benchmark.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds (Twitter link) that there is no extension in place with Carolina at this time.

Rantanen has consistently been one of the NHL’s top scorers in recent years.  Only three players have more points than him since the start of the 2020-21 season, Connor McDavid, MacKinnon, and Draisaitl, certainly lofty company to be in.  The 28-year-old has recorded more than 100 points in each of the last two years and is well on his way toward extending that streak.  Rantanen has 25 goals and 39 assists in 49 games this season, good for sixth in NHL scoring.  He’ll undoubtedly be a big boost to a Carolina attack that’s already among the best in the league, checking in at fourth overall in goals scored.

Necas, like Hall, had been in a lot of trade speculation, especially over the summer.  At one point, it looked as if he’d be moved back at the draft amid reports that he had indicated that he’d welcome a change of scenery but that didn’t materialize.  Instead, the two sides ultimately settled on a two-year, $13MM deal in July, a deal that gave him a fair-sized raise but also didn’t give Carolina any extra team control.

Two years ago, Necas had a breakout year, posting 28 goals and 43 assists in 82 games.  Unfortunately for him and the Hurricanes, those numbers dropped last season to 24 and 29 respectively.  However, things have been much better for the 26-year-old this season, as he has 16 goals and 39 assists in 49 games; his 55 points lead the team in scoring.  But even with that, GM Eric Tulsky has decided that a significant shakeup to his forward group is required and these two moves certainly count as a significant shakeup.

Necas will likely slot in where Rantanen was on Colorado’s top line and a chance to play with MacKinnon could allow his individual production to flourish.  That would certainly be an ideal situation to be in considering he’ll become extension-eligible on July 1st when he’ll have some more leverage only being a year away from hitting the UFA market.

Drury’s first full NHL campaign came last season and it was a good one as he had eight goals and 19 assists in 74 games while winning over 55% of his faceoffs.  That helped earn him a two-year, $3.45MM contract over the summer.  However, production has been harder to come by for him this season as the 24-year-old has just three goals and six assists through 39 games although his faceoff win percentage is up to 58.8%.

Colorado’s bottom six group has been an area of some concern for a couple of years now with the team churning through numerous players with varying degrees of minimal success.  While Drury isn’t producing much more than many of those players, he’ll give the Avs some desired stability down the middle while his faceoff prowess will fit in well on a team that has a success rate at the dot of just 44.5%.  They also get some club control over Drury who isn’t UFA-eligible until 2028.

Juntorp was a sixth-round pick by Chicago in 2022 and is included in the swap as the Blackhawks had to send something out beyond Hall to make the three-team element of the deal work.  He has 20 points in 25 games with HC Dalen in the Hockey Ettan along with three appearances with Vasteras in the second-tier Allsvenskan.

In the end, Carolina has clearly signaled its intentions to go all-in this season and managed to upgrade its roster without touching any of its future assets.  They’ll dip into LTIR for the time being to afford the swap.  Colorado, meanwhile, ensures that they’ll get a top-line talent and some other pieces in exchange for Rantanen, giving them an extra year of club control along the way.  They also free up a bit of cap space in the process which they’ll likely put to use in the coming weeks.  As for Chicago, their return is certainly underwhelming as Hall is effectively given away in this deal while only receiving a third-round pick for eating half of Rantanen’s contract.  However, they were able to clear the full freight of Hall’s contract, giving them one more retention slot to utilize before the deadline.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic first reported the three-team element and Chicago’s acquisition of the third-round pick.  Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was the first to report Colorado’s involvement in the deal.  The Athletic’s Arthur Staple first reported that Necas was part of the swap.  ESPN’s Emily Kaplan was first with Drury’s inclusion and the two picks going to Colorado.

Photos courtesy of Imagn Images.

Hurricanes’ William Carrier Out Long Term After Surgery

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1/24: After receiving a second opinion, Hurricanes forward William Carrier has moved forward with surgery to address his lower-body injury. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour has shared that the forward will be out “long term” after the procedure, per Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News and Observer – at least two months, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. The team is hoping that he’ll return this season.

1/16: Hurricanes winger William Carrier is seeking a second opinion on how to proceed in his recovery from the lower-body injury that’s kept him out for nearly two weeks, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer.

It’s an inauspicious start to Carrier’s tenure in Carolina after he inked an eye-popping six-year, $12MM deal with heavy trade protection in free agency last summer. The 30-year-old grinder hasn’t returned to the heights of his 16-goal, 25-point campaign in 56 games with the Golden Knights in their Stanley Cup-winning 2022-23 campaign. He’s been limited to four goals and nine points through 39 appearances with the Canes, similar production to the injury-plagued 2023-24 campaign that, in part, led Vegas not to pursue re-signing him aggressively.

Regardless of whether or not he undergoes surgery to address the issue, it’s likely he’s facing another lengthy stay on the shelf. Carrier was on IR for nearly half the campaign last year with upper-body issues, so while his current problem isn’t related, it still indicates a rapidly growing proneness to injury. It’s not unsurprising for how the gritty Quebec native plays, already racking up 136 hits to lead Carolina by a huge margin with 18.01 per 60 minutes.

Before landing on the shelf, Carrier had been ridiculously effective, even if he wasn’t scoring. He’s replaced the injured Jesper Fast on the Canes’ third line alongside Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal for much of the campaign, with the trio controlling 65.8% of expected goals at even strength, per MoneyPuck.

His and Tyson Jost’s continued absence will provide increased opportunities for depth wingers like call-up Juha Jaaska, who has an assist and a plus-one rating through his first seven NHL games over the past couple of weeks.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Riley Stillman

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Before tomorrow’s intra-division game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Carolina Hurricanes added some depth to their blue line. The Hurricanes announced they’ve recalled defenseman Riley Stillman from their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

Stillman lost the first month of the 2024-25 NHL season to a lower-body injury and was finally activated from the injured non-roster list on November 12th. Since clearing waivers the next day, the seven-year veteran has received five call-ups by Carolina this year.

He’s been a stable presence on AHL Chicago’s blue line this season. Although he’s only scored two goals and five points in 15 contests, that’s only one point shy of his 47-game output from last season. Aside from his mild offensive production, Stillman has a -2 rating on the year and is sixth on the team in PIMs.

Although the Hurricanes face several injuries to their forwards, the team’s blue line is not currently affected. That makes Stillman’s recall more peculiar, given that a home game against the Blue Jackets wouldn’t require additional depth.

Another noteworthy aspect of Stillman’s recall is the selection of him over defenseman Ty Smith. Smith cleared waivers 10 days ago and has only spent a few days on the roster since. That gives Carolina nearly a month of Smith with complete flexibility but they’ve chosen to have him remain in AHL Chicago for the time being.

J.T. Miller Receiving Interest From Additional Eastern Conference Teams

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Canucks center J.T. Miller remains in Vancouver for now after a reported trade to the Rangers fell through over the weekend. That deal never got close enough for the Canucks to ask Miller to waive his no-movement clause, multiple members of The Athletic’s NHL staff reported Monday, but it did potentially involve New York sending young top-nine center Filip Chytil, pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Ryan Lindgren, and multiple “future-focused assets” to Vancouver.

A disagreement on the conditions around the prospective first-round pick was the principal reason the deal fell apart, per The Athletic’s report. It doesn’t mean the Blueshirts are out of the running on Miller entirely, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet told CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal on Monday that the Rangers and Hurricanes are the two likeliest parties to land Miller, who prefers a trade to the Eastern United States. Friedman mentioned the Stars, Devils, and Islanders as interested but less probable outcomes.

If the reported return for the now-nixed trade is a strong blueprint for other potential Miller deals, though, it signals a continued rocky path for the Canucks down the stretch. The total value of what they’re getting isn’t bad – they need short-term help on the blue line, Chytil still has top-six potential when healthy, and the first-round pick will likely be in the teens – but it doesn’t give them a direct replacement for the near point-per-game Miller.

Even amid a down year for J.T. and time missed due to personal leave, he leads Canucks forwards in scoring with 31 points (8 G, 23 A) in 35 games. That’s below expectations, considering he’d averaged 96 points per 82 games over the prior three seasons, but still elite-level production that’s due for a rebound. His 11.8% shooting rate stands as his lowest in 10 years.

If Carolina wins out with a similar return, it would seemingly involve 24-year-old pivot Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who the Canucks demonstrated interest in acquiring when they nearly dealt Elias Pettersson to the Hurricanes last season. He’s likely a lower-value pickup than Chytil, with an iffy $4.82MM cap hit running through 2030 and just 19 points in 46 games this season. The Canes could easily make up for that by giving Vancouver a higher-value defenseman in return than the Rangers can with Lindgren, though.

Morning Notes: Halonen, White, Smith

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The New Jersey Devils have reassigned forward Brian Halonen and defenseman Colton White to the AHL’s Utica Comets. Both players served as extras for the team’s last few games. White didn’t step into the lineup at all during his three-day recall, while Halonen appeared in one game during his four days on the NHL roster.

Both players have served at the top of Utica’s lineup for the majority of the season. Halonen is leading the team in goals (13) and tied for the lead in points (21) through 31 games. White has also been productive, with 11 points in 26 games ranking him third on the blue-line in scoring behind Seamus Casey and Simon Nemec. Despite that, neither player has cracked into a routine NHL role. Halonen has earned the first three NHL games of his career between this season and last, though he’s still searching for his first point. White has 84 career NHL games and 10 points, but hasn’t played in the top league since 2022-23. With this move, the duo will return to fighting for a full-time move to the top flight with strong play in the minors.

Across the Metropolitan Division, the Carolina Hurricanes have once again assigned defenseman Ty Smith to the AHL, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. Smith has bounced between rosters all season long. He’s ultimately appeared scored two points in eight NHL games, and 10 points in 13 AHL games on the season. Smith has continued to be productive in the minor leagues, after being 43 points in 63 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season. He’s still a swing away from a routine NHL role, especially behind a loaded Hurricanes defense.

Hurricanes Activate Frederik Andersen From Injured Reserve

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The Hurricanes activated starting goaltender Frederik Andersen from injured reserve Friday, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports. Carolina returned third-string netminder Dustin Tokarski to AHL Chicago in a corresponding transaction to keep their active roster at the 23-player limit.

Whether Andersen makes his first start in nearly three months tonight against the Golden Knights remains to be seen, but he’s been cleared to resume game action after missing almost all of the regular season to date with a knee injury. The 35-year-old last played in a 4-1 win over the Kraken on Oct. 26 before landing on the shelf and undergoing surgery nearly one month later after non-surgical options for his recovery failed.

When Andersen underwent knee surgery in late November, the team issued an eight-to-12-week timeline. His activation comes exactly eight weeks after the Nov. 22 procedure.

Andersen has been gearing up for about a week and a half, returning to the ice on his own early this month. For now, his return should quiet talks of the Hurricanes aggressively pursuing a netminder, although that could change in an instant with Andersen missing the vast majority of the past three seasons due to various injuries and a blood-clotting issue.

The Danish netminder told reporters today, including the team’s Walt Ruff, that he didn’t have any “real setbacks” during his recovery. Andersen missed nearly half of the shortened 2020-21 season with a knee injury while he was a member of the Maple Leafs, and he was also held out of the 2022 postseason with Carolina due to a lower-body injury.

If he can remain healthy, which is a huge caveat at this stage of his career, Andersen is far and away the team’s best option between the pipes. Since signing with the Canes in 2021, he’s had a .919 SV% and 2.19 GAA in 106 appearances, including a .933 SV% in his 20 appearances since the beginning of the 2023-24 season.

In four appearances to begin the year, Andersen sparkled with a 3-1-0 record, .941 SV%, and 1.48 GAA. He saved 2.9 goals above expected at even strength and stopped all 14 of the high-danger chances he faced.

When iced, he’s still an elite netminder, a higher-ceiling option than the far younger but more consistent Pyotr Kochetkov. The 25-year-old has been serviceable as Carolina’s de facto starter this season with Andersen on the shelf, guiding them to a 16-9-2 record in his 28 appearances. His SV% is .901 and his GAA is 2.54. Considering Carolina’s staunch defense has allowed the fewest 5-on-5 shot attempts of any team in the league, those league-average numbers aren’t particularly impressive.

Andersen’s return ends the veteran Tokarki’s first stint on an NHL roster that involved game action since February 2023. The 35-year-old farmhand played well in temporary backup duty behind Kochetkov, posting a 4-2-0 record, a .902 SV% and a 2.18 GAA in six appearances.

It concludes a nice story for Tokarski, who started the season at home after failing to land a contract from a camp tryout with the Senators. He eventually landed an AHL deal with the Hurricanes’ affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, before Andersen’s injury and Kochetkov’s brief absence led Carolina to tear it up and replace it with an NHL pact. Tokarski posted a sparkling .933 SV% in five AHL contests earlier this year and will continue backstopping the Hurricanes’ minor-league prospects.

Hurricanes Place Frederik Andersen On IR, Recall Ty Smith

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The Hurricanes have kept goaltender Frederik Andersen on the active roster since he sustained a knee injury in late October. Today, the team announced they’d finally moved him to injured reserve. His roster spot goes to defenseman Ty Smith, who they recalled from AHL Chicago just two days after he cleared waivers and headed to the minors.

Andersen’s IR placement is inconsequential aside from opening a roster spot for Smith. He hasn’t played since Oct. 26, missing 37 games with knee issues that eventually required surgery in November.

The team gave Andersen an eight-to-12-week return timeline from his procedure, a window he’ll enter this weekend. He skated on his own last week, according to the team’s Walt Ruff, indicating that while a return isn’t imminent, he’s still on pace to get back into game action during his previously issued timeline.

Andersen, 35, had a sparkling .941 SV% and 1.48 GAA through four starts before being shelved. The pending unrestricted free agent has a 72-28-4 record with a .919 SV% since arriving in Raleigh-Durham in 2021 but has missed an incredible 129 regular-season games during that time due to injury or illness, outpacing his 104 starts and two relief appearances.

His replacement in the starter’s crease, 25-year-old Pyotr Kochetkov, has been adequate with a .901 SV% and 2.54 GAA in 28 starts. Those numbers are down from his career averages of .907 and 2.42, but he’s still managed to stop 5.6 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck, placing him 21st in the league among netminders with at least nine games played.

Removing Andersen from the active roster until he’s ready to return allows the Canes to carry an extra defenseman again. He was the only accessible option to open a roster spot quickly. Forward call-up Juha Jaaska’s services remain required with William Carrier and Tyson Jost sidelined with lower-body injuries on a day-to-day basis.

Smith has held the role of Carolina’s extra defender for most of the season, routinely alternating days on the roster with Riley Stillman for much of the early going. The 24-year-old got an extended run in the lineup over the past few weeks while Shayne Gostisbehere was injured, posting a goal and assist in eight games while playing minimal even-strength minutes but seeing top-unit power-play usage.

There were no takers for Smith, who the Devils selected 17th overall in the 2018 draft, on waivers over the weekend, so he remains as Carolina’s next man up on the blue line for now. He has 10 points and a +11 rating in 13 AHL games this season, his first full one in the Hurricanes organization after they acquired him from the Penguins in last year’s Jake Guentzel blockbuster.

Hurricanes Activate Shayne Gostisbehere Off IR

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The Carolina Hurricanes are expected to get defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere back from injury on Sunday, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. He was activated off of injured reserve, per Rotowire and the NHL media site. Gostisbehere has missed Carolina’s last seven games with an upper-body injury. He was placed on injured reserve on January 5th.

Gostisbehere has been one of Carolina’s top defenders through the early season. He’s posted notable stats across the board, leading the Hurricanes’ blue-line in goals (6) and points (27), and ranked in the top four of hits (30) through just 35 games. Should he appear in all of Carolina’s remaining 39 games, Gostisbehere would be on pace for 57 points on the season – just enough to surpass his career-high of 56 points set in 81 games with the Red Wings last season. He’s aged like a fine wine, carrying his two-way impact and solid production through stints with four different clubs over the last five seasons, including two separate tenures in Carolina. Gostisbehere has been strong through it all, starting the spree with a 51-point season with the Arizona Coyotes in 2021-22 and now set to outperform it four years later.

This move will bring the Hurricanes’ loaded defense back to full-strength. Gostisbehere will likely slide back into his role next to fellow summer-addition Sean Walker, and should also regain his spot on the team’s top power-play unit ahead of Brent Burns. Those additions will give the Hurricanes a difference-making defender in every role, hopefully enough to spur them out of a 5-4-1 record over their last 10 games.

Hurricanes Waive, Reassign Ty Smith

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1/12: Smith has cleared waivers and been reassigned to the AHL, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff.

1/11: Hurricanes defenseman Ty Smith has been no stranger to being involved in transactions this season as he has been shuffled to and from the minors numerous times already.  However, he’s now spent 30 days on Carolina’s roster since clearing waivers at the beginning of the year.  That means that he must now clear waivers again before that can continue.  The Hurricanes have made that move today as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that Smith has been placed on waivers.

The 24-year-old is in his first full season with Carolina after being acquired at the trade deadline last season as part of the Jake Guentzel deal and is on a one-year, $775K two-way contract.  Smith has spent a big chunk of the year in the reserve role with the big club (or in transit to or from the minors) so playing time has been difficult to come by thus far.

Smith has played in 13 games with AHL Chicago this season and has been fairly productive, putting up three goals and seven assists in those outings.  He has also gotten into eight appearances with the Hurricanes, collecting a goal and an assist while averaging 13:40 per game.  For his career, Smith has 49 points in 131 NHL contests, most of which came with New Jersey after they drafted him 17th overall back in 2018.

Teams will have until 1 PM CT on Sunday to place a claim on Smith.  If he passes through waivers unclaimed, his waiver clock will reset on both fronts.  In other words, he won’t need to clear again once he reaches the 10-game mark on the season but rather if and when he gets into 10 games after his waiver period expires tomorrow.

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