The Chicago Blackhawks facilitated a trade between the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes earlier this season. The main part of the deal is that Chicago took on half of Mikko Rantanen’s contract as he went to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Carolina thought they would be able to convince him to sign long term but he wasn’t a good fit there. With Colorado, Rantanen was used to being part of an offensive group that did most of their damage on the rush. In Carolina, their cycle offense didn't work as well for him.
On trade deadline day, the Hurricanes flipped him to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Logan Stankoven, a 2026 first-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick, and a conditional 2028 first-round pick.
This move started to materialize late on Thursday night and it went into Friday. It hinged on Rantanen accepting a contract extension.
Eventually, the Stars and Rantanen agreed on an eight-year deal with an average annual value of $12 million against the salary cap per year. This allowed the deal to go through.
The Blackhawks are now paying half of Rantanen's salary for the rest of this season as he now suits up for a division rival. Dallas and Chicago will not meet again this season.
Dallas signing Rantanen also takes him off the free-agent market this summer. The Blackhawks likely would have gone after him. They may not have landed him but there would have been an effort. It's a big loss for teams looking to add high-octane wingers. He would have been a big-time player addition for Connor Bedard.
In 62 games played this season, Rantanen has 27 goals and 43 assists for 70 points. He has had 100+ points in each of the last two seasons and will push for that number again if he gets hot in Dallas.
That type of production would have been great for Chicago but they will have to look elsewhere. Mitch Marner is still set to be a free agent if he doesn't extend with the Toronto Maple Leafs and trades are always an option as well.
Kyle Davidson won't let Rantanen coming off the market stop him from making a huge move to get his star center someone to play with. He just may have to be more creative.
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