Despite being a fan favorite and a key part of the Avalanche's recent success, the salary-cap reality forced their hand.

The trade is a stunning midseason swap of point-per-game players in their primes, an anomaly in the NHL trade market in the salary-cap era.

Mikko Rantanen says he was willing to take a discount to stay with the Avalanche before the Hurricanes trade happened.

With Rantanen now in Carolina, LeBrun noted the Hurricanes have the "key" advantage of offering an eight-year extension instead of just a seven-year deal, although he also noted that Rantanen will most probably demand $14-plus million.

In a blockbuster NHL trade, the Colorado Avalanche have sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Martin Necas. Taylor Hall will also be going from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Hurricanes as part of the three-way deal.

The Carolina Hurricanes are wasting no time introducing their latest acquisition to the organization. After swinging a massive trade for superstar Mikko Rantane

Here are our Mikko Rantanen trade grades for the Blackhawks, Avalanche, and Hurricanes after Friday's stunning deal.

The Carolina Hurricanes knew if they wanted to go deep in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they needed another game breaker among the top-six of the lineup. GM Eric Tulsky has found one in spades.

The Avalanche made one of the biggest trades in Colorado sports history last week when it sent away star forward Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes in a deal that included the Blackhawks. In return, the Avs received forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury, plus a pair of draft picks (2025 second-rounder and 2026 fourth-rounder).

Mikko Rantanen has been traded to the Hurricanes in recent days. But even though the trade was unexpected, it doesn’t mean he will automatically continue his career in Carolina for the next few years.

There were many teams that were shocked that the Colorado Avalanche traded Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes. One