By Mark Lazerus, Scott Powers, Chris Johnston, Arthur Staple and Pierre LeBrun
The Carolina Hurricanes shook the hockey world Friday night, six weeks before the March 7 trade deadline, by acquiring unrestricted free agents Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall in a three-team deal with the The Colorado Avalanche and the Chicago Blackhawks, the teams announced.
In exchange for Rantanen, the Avalanche receive Martin Necas, Jack Drury and draft picks from the Canes (a second round in 2025 and a fourth round in 2026). The Blackhawks will get a 2025 third-round pick from Carolina in the deal for Hall. Chicago also keeps half of Rantanen’s goal, but none on Hall, league sources said.
The trade is a stunning mid-season points-per-game exchange between players in their prime, an anomaly on the NHL trade market in the salary cap era.
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NHL Trade Notes: Hurricanes acquire Mikko Rantanen in stunning blockbuster with Avalanche
Why hurricanes acted
Rantanen has been overshadowed by star teammates Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar in Colorado, but the 6-foot-4 winger is the NHL’s fourth-leading scorer over the past five years, with 188 goals and 431 points in 338 games. That’s more points than Artemi Panarin, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and David Pastrnak, to name a few. Rantanen is on pace for his third straight 100-point season, with 25 goals and 39 assists in 49 games.
Rantanen gives Carolina the megastar it has always lacked and could slot in on the right side with Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho to form one of the most imposing lines in hockey.
Necas, who seemed on the verge of leaving last season due to dissatisfaction with his playing time in Carolina, instead signed a two-year showcase contract with a cap hit of $6.5 million. He quickly proved it, even holding the lead in the score at the start of December. He scored 16 goals and 39 assists in 49 games.
Drury is a depth center, with three goals and six assists in 39 games in a largely fourth-line role for the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are already thin in the middle and were in the market for a second-line center, so general manager Eric Tulsky may not be done yet.
With Chicago retaining $4.625 million of Rantanen’s salary and Necas and Drury coming off the books, the Hurricanes still have some cap space to play with. With books intact, they are also one of the few contenders who can afford Rantanen long term. — Mark Lazerus, Senior NHL Writer
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What this means for the Avalanche
It’s not a trade the Avalanche – still a Stanley Cup contender in their own right – wanted to make, but with Rantanen assured of holding a contract similar to Leon Draisaitl’s eight-year, $112 million deal, Colorado probably couldn’t have afforded it. this summer.
The trade gives them two cost-controlled players – Necas and Drury are both signed through next season – who can at least help fill the void left by Rantanen. — Lazerus
How this sets up the Blackhawks
Hall, 33, is not the same player who won the Hart Trophy in 2018, but he has shown flashes of himself at times with the Blackhawks. He has produced nine goals and 15 assists in 46 games this season. He had two goals and two assists in 10 games last season before undergoing season-ending right ACL surgery.
Hall remained hopeful of re-signing with the Blackhawks and continuing to help them with their rebuild. He recently expressed less optimism about this scenario.
The Blackhawks are not expected to have a massive trade deadline, but they should make a few moves, including Trading Hall. The Blackhawks are looking to open up some NHL spots later this season for new college prospects. It’s possible that Boston University junior forward Ryan Greene, Minnesota sophomore forward Oliver Moore and Minnesota sophomore defenseman Sam Rinzel will sign after their college seasons and move immediately to the NHL.
The Blackhawks receive a third-round pick from the Hurricanes in the 2025 draft as part of the deal. The pick originally belonged to the Blackhawks, but they previously dealt it to the Hurricanes for a third-round pick in 2024. The Blackhawks drafted forward Jack Pridham with the 2024 selection.
The Blackhawks still have one retention spot after the trade. They still retain $2 million in cap space for Jake McCabe, who they traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2022-23 season. Teams are entitled to three retention places. — Scott Powers, Senior NHL Writer
Required reading
(Photo: Matthieu Stockman / Getty Images)
