Mikko Rantanen was dealt three times during the 2024-25 season, and each team that dealt for him or dealt him away benefited and achieved a level of success.
Mikko Rantanen is an all-star player who elevates the team he plays for, and can inadvertently elevate the team he was traded from.
During the 2024–25 season, Rantanen found himself on three teams: the Colorado Avalanche, the Carolina Hurricanes, and, eventually, his current team, the Dallas Stars.
When a player of Rantanen’s caliber is traded, teams do not simply receive a few draft picks in return. His impact can reshape entire organizations. In Carolina’s case, he indirectly helped build the Hurricanes’ most successful offensive line.
Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven, and Jackson Blake became offensively dominant during the first eight games of the post-season, combining for 31 points. Hall led the way with three goals and nine assists, Stankoven added seven goals and one assist, while Blake contributed four goals and seven assists.
Carolina indirectly used a strategy of acquiring a star player, maximizing his trade value, and turning that value into multiple impactful assets.
In January 2025, a blockbuster three-team trade saw the Avalanche send Rantanen to Carolina, while Taylor Hall was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks. In return, Colorado received Martin Necas, Jack Drury, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-round pick.
Chicago received its 2025 third-round pick back after previously trading it to Carolina in 2024. The Blackhawks also weaponized their cap space by retaining 50 percent of Rantanen’s $9.25 million salary, allowing them to make nine selections at the 2025 NHL draft.
Hall finished the final 31 games of the season with 18 points, recording nine goals and nine assists. The performance was considered a bounce-back campaign after struggling in Chicago, especially for the former 2017-18 Hart Memorial Trophy winner.
With the fit proving successful in Carolina, Hall signed a three-year, $3.16 million AAV extension. The decision paid off for both sides, as Hall now has his best opportunity to win a Stanley Cup, and the Hurricanes are being paced offensievly by Hall’s team-leading 12 post-season points.
But Carolina did not only acquire Hall through the Rantanen trade tree. Logan Stankoven, who led the group with seven goals, also arrived as part of the return for Rantanen.
In March 2025, the Hurricanes and Dallas Stars completed another major trade after Carolina was unable to finalize a contract extension with Rantanen. Ahead of the trade deadline, Carolina acquired Stankoven, two conditional first-round picks in 2026 and 2028, along with third-round picks in 2026 and 2027.
Immediately after the trade, Rantanen signed an eight-year, $96 million extension with the Stars, a team coming off back-to-back Western Conference Final appearances.
Mikko Rantanen notched 22 goals and 77 points in 64 games this season (Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)Although Carolina was hoping to add a superstar talent to their roster, they emerged as the winner of the series of transactions, gaining long-term draft capital while also assembling an all-star-caliber line combination. The Hurricanes opened the post-season with an 8–0 run and advanced to the 2026 Eastern Conference final with home-ice advantage, awaiting either the Buffalo Sabres or Montreal Canadiens.
Colorado also benefited from the Rantanen situation by acquiring Martin Necas. The top-six forward spent parts of his seven seasons with the Hurricanes playing on the second and third lines, but is now the right winger alongside Nathan MacKinnon.
Necas has recorded one goal and 10 assists in the playoffs after coming off a 100-point season in 78 games played.
Rantanen still proved his value during the 2025 post-season. In Game 7 against his former Avalanche team, he recorded a revenge hat trick and a four-point performance. After spending nine seasons in Colorado, he finished the post-season with 22 points in 18 games for Dallas, bringing the Stars to the Western Conference finals.
However, injuries became a major factor in 2026. A knee injury limited both his effectiveness and overall production. Following the Stars’ first-round exit to the Minnesota Wild, GM Jim Nill admitted that the $96 million star “never really got going.”
Rantanen finished the post-season with one goal and six assists in six games while posting a minus-8 rating.
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