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Carolina Hurricanes star forward Mikko Rantanen continues to dominate headlines ahead of Friday's NHL trade deadline, which is now less than 24 hours away. It's been all-but confirmed that the front office will not be signing the Finn to an extension between now and then, and he has emerged as the No. 1 player on trade boards league-wide.
“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,” reported The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun on Thursday.
“Multiple league sources confirmed 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 properly suss out the trade market.”
As LeBrun's colleague Chris Johnston reported, there are multiple contenders interested in the 28-year-olds services.
“It was a stunner when Mikko Rantanen got dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this season, and there’s still a chance he finds another new home by Friday afternoon,” the hockey insider wrote. “The Hurricanes are proactively gauging the market on the winger with less than 48 hours to go until the NHL trade deadline and have received interest from the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers, among others.”
All of the Stars, Golden Knights and Panthers are Stanley Cup contenders in 2025, and adding Rantanen could turn any of those three clubs into an absolute powerhouse. Both reporters have also said there are other teams in the mix as well.
For the Hurricanes front office, they can't afford to let Rantanen walk for nothing this summer — especially after giving up Martin Necas and Jack Drury to acquire him.
Hurricanes can't afford to lose Mikko Rantanen for nothing
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“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?” LeBrun speculated.
“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.”
It's a fluid situation, and it's looking like a legitimate 50/50 chance the former 55-goal, 105-point scorer is moved sometime in the next 24 hours.
Carolina's front office has been gauging interest in Rantanen all week, and it's possible that they pull the trigger on what they feel is the best deal. But there's also an avenue where they hold onto him, try to make a run at a first championship since 2006, and worry about a possible extension in the summer.
Without a doubt, this is the most intriguing storyline to follow ahead of Friday's deadline, which should provide plenty of fireworks ahead of the NHL stretch run.
