Colorado Avalanche fleeced desperate Hurricanes in Rantanen deal

The Colorado Avalanche made away like bandits in the Mikko Rantanen megatrade, getting valuable pieces the club could use for future trades this season.

The Colorado Avalanche fleeced the Carolina Hurricanes in the Mikko Rantanen trade.
The Colorado Avalanche fleeced the Carolina Hurricanes in the Mikko Rantanen trade. | Bruce Bennett/GettyImages
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Looking at the return Colorado Avalanche for Mikko Rantanen

All told the Colorado Avalanche got Necas, Jack Drury, a fine bottom-six center, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-round pick, plus Nils Juntrop, likely a throw-in for transactional reasons.  The Avs then flipped Juntrop to Carolina.

The Avs sent Rantanen and nothing else.

The Chicago Blackhawks, who became a third-party broker to make the salary cap math work for Carolina, got a 2025 third-round pick from Carolina. The Blackhawks also dumped Taylor Hall’s contract on the desperate Hurricanes. Hall will be a free agent after this season, so the Hurricanes don’t have a long-term commitment, there.

All told, the Avalanche fleeced Carolina. Sure, Colorado lost Rantanen, but they got Necas back and plugged a huge hole by acquiring a legitimate bottom-six center. The Avalanche can now roll three solid lines without worrying about the rotation between the third and fourth-line centers.

Plus, the Avs get two more draft picks and they get some cap flexibility. The Avs actually saved about $3 million in cap space by offsetting Rantanen’s cap hit with Necas’ AAV. Now, the Avs have over $5 million in cap space, and that’s without placing Valeri Nichushkin on LTIR.

What does this situation mean?

It means that the Avalanche can still go out and either acquire one impact player or a combination of two to three additional depth players.

If Nichushkin projects to be out for a significant period, the Avalanche will look at another top-six forward. I suggested Kyle Palmieri in an earlier piece. Given the way the math works for the Avalanche, I think they could certainly add Palmieri.

In fact, the extra draft picks the Avalanche got for Rantanen could be something the New York Islanders might be interested in pursuing.

It’s just a thought, but I do believe the Avalanche are not done wheeling and dealing. So, stay tuned.

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