HEARTBREAKING: MONTREAL CANADIENS FORMER HEAD COACH HEAD COACH JUST PASSED AWAY DUE
So we finally have at least one bit of clarity on Mikko Rantanen: He’s not signing an extension with the Carolina Hurricanes by Friday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.
Multiple league sources confirmed Thursday morning that Rantanen’s camp has made that decision and relayed it to the Hurricanes over the past few days, which explains why Carolina has reached back out to teams with interest in the pending unrestricted free agent to
One important note: The Canes as of Thursday morning had not given permission to teams to speak directly to Rantanen’s camp, led by Andy Scott, about a possible extension. For the moment, that seems to rule out a sign-and-trade scenario, but that’s always subject to change.
But it also makes sense. If Rantanen isn’t ready to make a decision on Carolina’s contract extension offer because he’s just been with the team only six weeks or so (minus the two weeks at 4 Nations), why would he suddenly be ready to sign an extension with another team he hasn’t even played with yet if he gets traded?
And it’s important to reiterate that the Canes aren’t 100 percent trading Rantanen. It will all come down to comparing the trade offers on the table for Rantanen versus the value in keeping him as a rental in an effort to go win a Stanley Cup this season.
Colleague Chris Johnston reported Wednesday evening that the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers were among the teams that have shown interest in Rantanen. And yes, there are more teams in there as well.
The Stars have the cap room via long-term injured reserve, the Golden Knights have been working the market for another winger and the Panthers still have ample cap room thanks to Matthew Tkachuk being on LTIR for the rest of the regular season.
The Panthers are mostly looking at a depth forward, but this would be on-brand for one of the most aggressive GMs in the league in Bill Zito. Same with Kelly McCrimmon in Vegas, who shows no fear. The Stars, my September pick to win the Stanley Cup this season, are definitely all in, but can they make the pieces work with Carolina to justify it?
And that’s what will be the most interesting part of all if the Canes do indeed pull the trigger on a trade. What pieces can they get back from a Cup contender that would compare to having traded away Martin Necas and Jack Drury to Colorado on Jan. 24? And also, what pieces can they get back in a trade that trumps what Rantanen can give them the rest of this season?
Perhaps the idea of losing Rantanen for nothing on July 1 ends up trumping all. We’re about to find out, either way.
go-deeper
GO DEEPER
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