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The hockey world was left stunned by the Mikko Rantanen trade from Friday night. The Carolina Hurricanes traded for Rantanen and Taylor Hall in a three-team trade with the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks. This move reunited Rantanen with fellow countryman Sebastian Aho, as well. The two have not played together in a long time.
The Finnish stars are set to represent Team Finland during the 4 Nations Faceoff in a few weeks. However, Rantanen and Aho played together on Saturday night against the New York Islanders. Rantanen did not score in his Hurricanes debut. But he believes playing on Aho's wing in Carolina could produce some incredible results.
“I think it’s only going to get better,” Rantanen said, via NHL.com. “We haven’t played together in 10 years, probably the last time in juniors somewhere. But he’s a good player, a very smart player and easy to play with, so hopefully we can get the chemistry building and get some offense going.”
Mikko Rantanen reveals first impression of Hurricanes after trade
Mikko Rantanen has played at a very high level. And his play helped him reach the pinnacle of hockey in 2022. He, along with the Avalanche, won the Stanley Cup in 2022. During that run, he scored five goals and 25 points in 20 games to help the Avalanche claim their first Stanley Cup since 2001.
Rantanen has reached the heights the Hurricanes are hoping to reach. Carolina won the Stanley Cup back in 2006 over the Edmonton Oilers. Since then, they have made the Eastern Conference Finals three times — 2009, 2019, and 2023. However, they failed to make the Stanley Cup Final in all three appearances. The Hurricanes failed to win a single game in each of those Finals appearances, in fact.
Still, Carolina has made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the last six seasons. Players like Sebastian Aho have helped the Hurricanes become one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. They haven't found a way to get to the Stanley Cup Final. But Rantanen believes they have the mentality necessary to go all the way.
“I think the mentality in the group is very good,” he said, via NHL.com. “You can tell they’ve been in the playoffs every year and there’s good standards. In the playoffs, it’s small, little things that can decide a series, so it just hasn’t gone this team’s way yet. But I think with the experience they have, hopefully I can help when we get there.”
