The Hurricanes wasted no time making their major cup-chasing move. Despite the NHL Trade deadline being over a month away, Carolina added the most-significant firepower imaginable by acquiring Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche in a complicated three-way trade involving the Chicago Blackhawks.
This trade marks the No. 6 points scorer in the entire NHL landing on a team trying to make inroads in the league’s toughest division. With 64 points in 49 games, and 100+ points in each of the last two years, Rantanen is unquestionably one of the best players in the league.
There are a lot of moving parts to this deal, but as it stands the best understanding of the trade comes from Frank Seravalli of Sportsnet.
Carolina Hurricanes receive: F Mikko Rantanen (from COL), F Taylor Hall (from CHI)
Colorado Avalanche receive: F Martin Necas (from CAR), F Jack Drury (from CAR), 2025 2nd round pick (from CAR), 2026 4th round pick (from CAR)
Chicago Blackhawks receive: 2025 3rd round pick (from CAR)
In addition, the Blackhawks will be taking on 50-percent of Rantanen’s remaining salary this season, which allows the Hurricanes to have cap flexibility to make more moves before the deadline.
How does this make sense for everyone involved?
For the Hurricanes:
This is an absolute blockbuster move that completely hinges on what happens this season and beyond. If the Hurricanes can either win the Stanley Cup, or convince Rantanen to sign a long-term deal then it’s a home run of titanic proportions. If they fail to win, or Rantanen leaves in free agency like Jake Guentzel did last season — then it’s a significant failure.
Carolina has been lacking a big-time force on their second line. Necas’ hot start had significantly cooled off, with the Canes in dire need of a goal scorer. It’s likely Jackson Blake shifts down to the No. 2 line, with Carolina putting out an absolutely terrifying top line of Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, and Mikko Rantanen, which would be one of the best in hockey.
It’s not all roses though for the Canes. As we mentioned, this turns into a disaster if Carolina loses Rantanen for nothing in the offseason. They have invested heavily in this trade, and will hope that Aho’s influence, paired with their reputation as being the most Finnish-friendly team in the NHL will convince him to sign long-term. With a healthy pipeline it can be done, but the risk is significant.
For the Avalanche:
Colorado fans might be disappointed in the seemingly low return for their top-line forward, but this is about getting a lot for nothing. Necas has been unhappy in Carolina for some time and wants an opportunity to be a top line player, which he’ll get with the Avalanche. Meanwhile the team was balking at the idea of paying Rantanen the estimated $14M AAV he was seeking when he hits free agency.
Necas is a mercurial talent that can be an absolute game-changer on occasion, but then totally disappear at other times. He’s on a short-term contract, but if he’s able to blossom in a new environment where he’s a focal piece this could be a significant gain.
The draft picks are nice to stock the shelves, Jack Drury is a decent 4th line player, and this is better than they’d likely get in a fire sale rental trade at the deadline.
For the Blackhawks:
Chicago gets something for being a facilitator. Truthfully, Hall meant nothing to the Blackhawks and he was destined to leave in free agency after this year. Chicago were able to flip him early and use their considerable cap space to make this deal happen, and they get back their draft pick which they traded to the Hurricanes during the 2024 NHL Draft.
It’s not a bad deal at all, but it also shouldn’t be treated like anything special.
