Mikko Rantanen is one of the premier forwards in the NHL. The Colorado Avalanche recently traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes. This move can be viewed as very chancy since Rantanen can go to free agency if he prefers. That would bring back horrible memories of when they lost Jake Guentzel to the Tampa Bay Lightning when he decided to become a free agent.
Cane’s general manager, Eric Tulsky, certainly doesn’t want a repeat like that. Instead, he is banking on Rantanen to help lead his team to a Cup this year. The Hurricanes have an excellent record this season at 33-19-4, good for 70 points, with 26 games remaining. Thus far, with his new team, he has just one goal and one assist in six contests. That’s a far cry from his previous statistics on the Avs this year when he collected 25 goals and 39 assists in just 49 games.
A player of Rantanen’s caliber always has control over his future. While Carolina being able to re-sign him is still possible, it’s his choice what to do. His demands of an eight-year $14 million AAV contract shouldn’t break the Cane’s bank. They will have about $38.7 million in cap space to retain the gifted forward. Other clubs are also able to sign Rantanen.
The Utah Hockey Club will have $28.3 million to entice the Finn, and the Chicago Blackhawks will have $37.2 million to negotiate a deal for his services.
Steve Werier, former assistant general manager of the Florida Panthers, presented an interesting perspective on this situation. Werier stated, “First, if push comes to shove and the sides aren’t close as July 1 nears, Carolina will be extremely incentivized to trade his rights to another club in exchange for value. As we’ve seen with Matt Tkachuk (and his agent Craig Oster at Newport, who orchestrated things perfectly), one way Carolina could recoup some value in that scenario would be to agree to a sign-and-trade with Rantanen’s preferred club, which gives him an 8-year deal elsewhere.”
Assuming Rantanen plays at or near his historic form over the remainder of this season, it’s possible that a team would be willing to offer him a one-year contract in July. This would likely be at or near the CBA maximum for the 2025-26 league year, which is just over $19 million.
Then, as early as after the trade deadline in 2026, that same team could sign Rantanen to an eight-year extension at a more manageable cap hit (but not too manageable – that will depend on what Mitch Marner signs for in July). In a 1+8 scenario, the signing club would benefit from the lower long-term cap hit, and Rantanen wins with nine years of high salary instead of eight, leveraging his peak earning power through the end of his age 37 season instead of 36.
Suppose the Utah Hockey Club goes after Rantanen. They could give him the maximum $19 million one-year deal with the understanding of him signing for an additional eight years. Can the Utah owner, Ryan Smith, afford that? Absolutely. He sold the business he founded for $8 BILLION! Smith has made it known that he wants to have his new hockey franchise compete for a Cup as soon as possible.
Adding a player of Rantanen’s skill level will make Utah a team to be reckoned with. Of course, if the Hurricanes trade his rights, they would expect a considerable return to compensate them. The Utah team does have many prospects and draft picks to allow such a deal to be consummated.
The Utah team also has five unrestricted free agents (UFA) who could be dealt in a prospective Rantanen trade.
Alex Kerfoot (C) has a $3.5 million cap hit, Nick Bjugstad has a $2.1 million cap hit, Michael Carcone‘s deal is $775,000, Olli Maatta‘s contract calls for $3 million, and Karel Vejmelka has a $2.72 million pact. This gives the Utah team some leverage to compete for Rantanen. Another factor may be that Rantanen misses the mountain country when he was in Denver. Salt Lake City offers similar attractions.
The Blackhawks certainly may be in the running for Rantanen’s services. A key factor here may be Connor Bedards’ future in Chicago. Bedard can commit to a long-term second contract, which the parties can sign this summer. Having a potential linemate like Rantanen could dismiss Bedard’s ideas that the Hawks are far from competitive.
Chicago has the money to fulfill Rantanen’s financial wishes. General manager Kyle Davidson will not hesitate to bring in a talent like Rantanen to escalate his rebuild plans. The Hawks have many draft picks if that is what the Hurricanes desire. Davidson has 18 picks over the next two years, with three first-rounders and four second-round selections to dangle in front of the Canes.
All three teams listed have an intense interest in Mikko Rantanen. Time will tell what his decision is. No matter where Rantanen goes, he will be an outstanding addition to help a team get where they want to go. At least, according to this writer’s perception, he may not be happy in Carolina. I could be wrong. His production has been disappointing, and that could be due to many factors. Is he on the wrong line? Is he not meshing well with his new teammates?
He must decide where to spend the next eight… or nine years. Chicago. Utah. Carolina. Wherever he ends up, that team will be getting one heck of a player.
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