The Colorado Avalanche shocked the NHL world when they traded winger Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in January. For whatever reason, Rantanen has not signed a contract extension with Carolina, and rumors have been circulating that he could be traded before the 2025 NHL trade deadline, which is March 7.
Maybe Carolina’s supposed lack of interest in extending Rantanen themselves is that they don’t feel he’s actually a good fit for the team. Thankfully, the Avalanche’s return from the trade, Martin Necas and Jack Drury, have worked out. However, we could see Rantanen possibly slam the table for a trade to a specific division, and perhaps a specific team.
That division would be the central, the same division the Avalanche play in. That being said, which of those other seven teams could call Carolina for the 28-year-old? According to Bleacher Report Open Ice, the Hurricanes would be retaining some of Rantanen’s salary, making his cap hit $2.3 million to whichever team would trade for him in the end.
With that being said, the Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils are among the three teams that do not have the cap space to make that trade happen, though that depends on what contracts go to Carolina in a trade with either of those teams.
Mikko Rantanen could find his way into the Central Division again, as a sign of revenge against the Avalanche
I’m not sure how much stock is actually in revenge for players, but for the sake of enthusiasm, let’s head that direction in the hypothetical. There was talk about Rantanen being off guard by the trade from Colorado to Carolina, which could have sparked a new life into Rantanen. Though it hasn’t fully worked out for him or the team, that spark could still be within him due to the trade being just under a month ago.
While the Hurricanes are free to trade Rantanen before March 7, it has to be noted that he has a no-trade clause in his contract consisting of seven teams. I’m not sure what teams those are, but I would assume that an unwritten team would be the Avalanche — that trade just wouldn’t make sense for Carolina, for obvious reasons.
Rantanen could hypothetically be in play for any of the other Central Division teams, with the Nashville Predators having the most space of any team in the division ($23.14M), and the Seattle Kraken with the least ($4.27M). The other teams, obviously, will have space in between those two numbers, which makes it possible for any of them to make a deal.
Rantanen has a ring and helped the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup, and while it’s possible that he would want to win another championship, money could be a deciding factor. It sure was when Colorado decided to ship him off. It’s also possible that he would want the best of both worlds. If that’s the case, the Winnipeg Jets would be a good spot for him, though some roster maneuvering could be in play if he was sent there.
If Rantanen does end up heading to the Central Division, the Avalanche hope that he continues to underperform since leaving Nathan MacKinnon’s line in Colorado.