Hindsight is 20/20.
The Colorado Avalanche sent shockwaves through the hockey world when they traded Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in January.
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For a while, that deal seemed to be working out in the Avalanche’s favor. Martin Necas was sent to the Avalanche as part of the deal and proceeded to record nine points in his first eight games as a member of the Avs.
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“The word high performance gets thrown around a lot.”
But one question persisted – would the Avalanche regret trading Rantanen come playoff time? I think it’s safe to say that the answer to that question is yes.
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It took Rantanen a few games to find his footing against his old club. In Games 1 through 4, he only recorded one assist, and that’s when things went bananas.
In the series' final three games, Rantanen recorded five goals and 11 points with the Dallas Stars. Three of his goals came in Game 7, where he recorded a hat trick and one assist to put the nail in the coffin of the Avalanche’s Stanley Cup dreams.
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On the other hand, Nathan MacKinnon was the only Avalanche player who made a huge impact on his team in the series. He led the Avs in points with 11.
Logan O’Connor stepped up big time, contributing six points in seven games. Cale Makar, Valeri Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, Brock Nelson, and Jonathan Drouin recorded five or fewer points throughout the series. Those are hardly superstar numbers, but the Avalanche needed a difference-maker to step up.
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“I didn’t like my last game very much.”
But the Avalanche didn’t get that. Even Necas only contributed five points in a series-losing effort.
Rantanen is a proven playoff performer, who is now up to 113 points in 88 playoff games. Necas has 35 points in 66 playoff games, so maybe Avalanche fans shouldn’t be terribly surprised by the end result.
No matter how you slice it, this loss will be hard to stomach for the Avalanche. Management needs to do a lot of soul-searching in the summer to figure out how to move on from this loss.
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