At least nine teams showed interest in Rantanen before trade to Stars
Published
The Mikko Rantanen sweepstakes attracted at least nine other teams to show interest in making a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes before the Dallas Stars landed the winger.
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun writes in The Athletic that the Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Utah Hockey Club, Calgary Flames, Anaheim Ducks and Seattle Kraken all showed interest in trading for Rantanen, adding that "undoubtedly there were others."
LeBrun reports the Maple Leafs and Panthers pushed hard for a deal, with Toronto approaching star winger Mitch Marner about waiving his no-move clause in a swap for Rantanen before Marner declined.
TSN's Ryan Rishaug reported Saturday that the Oilers also tried to land Rantanen and were progressing on in extension talks on a deal that was worth more than the eventual eight-year, $96 million extension he agreed to in Dallas. In the end, the Oilers did not have the assets to pull off a trade with the Hurricanes.
The Stars sent forward Logan Stankoven, 2026 first- and third-round picks, a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 first-round selection back to Carolina for the 28-year-old Rantanen once he agreed to the extension. He will carry a cap hit of $12 million with a full no-move clause through the 2032-33 season.
LeBrun reports that the Colorado Avalanche offer to Rantanen maxed out at $11.65 million per year earlier this season before the team flipped him to the Hurricanes. He adds that Carolina went up to $12.5 million per year over an eight-year term, but Rantanen did not see a fit with the team.
Stars general manager Jim Nill told LeBrun that talks with the Hurricanes started roughly two weeks before the deadline.
“They started making calls,” Nill said. “There was a certain market for him. Carolina was doing the right thing. They had to make a decision - could they sign him, and if they couldn’t sign him, were they still going to keep him, go for a big run with the intention of signing him after? So there were a lot of variables. They’re doing their job by calling around to the teams that he’d either be willing to sign with or make sense as a trade. They started doing their work about two weeks before. We started talking and kept in touch. As the deadline got closer, it probably intensified in the last four, five days.”
The Hurricanes originally added Rantanen in January, trading forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury as well as a 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round selection to the Avalanche.
The Finnish forward had two goals and six points in 13 games with Carolina after posting 25 goals and 64 points in 49 games with the Avalanche prior to the first trade.
Rantanen has two goals and three points in two games since joining the Stars, who would face the Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs if the postseason started today.