Amid everyone’s Friday evening, the Carolina Hurricanes made a blockbuster trade with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Colorado Avalanche in a three-way deal.
Carolina Hurricanes
In the deal, Carolina adds the two major names of Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall. The major drawback, for now, is that Rantanen is on an expiring contract. This trade could look much better if the Hurricanes can re-sign him before July 1.
In the deal, Carolina moves on from Martin Necas and Jack Drury, which are easy subtractions when being replaced by Rantanen and Hall. Carolina also sent a second-round pick in this year’s draft and a 2026 4th round pick to the Avalanche.
No doubt, the Hurricanes are ‘all in’ with these additions. While they’ve been interested in a John Gibson style goaltending upgrade, will they have the space and assets left to make it happen?
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche had a decision to make: sign Rantanen or move him. The Avalanche couldn’t afford Rantanen without a discount, with Nathan MacKinnon making north of $12m and Cale Makar set to make more than that on his next contract.
While not retaining any salary on Rantanen and adding Necas and Drury, the Avalanche saved roughly $1m in cap space. All eyes on Colorado, as they have more cap space and a few extra draft picks to utilize.
Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago played the facilitator role in the trade, eating 50% of Mikko Rantanen’s $9m contract and sending Taylor Hall to the Hurricanes for a 3rd Rd pick.
I don’t see the point in this deal for Chicago; they lost Hall and retained more money via the Rantanen contract. This doesn’t seem savvy for Kyle Davidson. It will be intriguing to see if this sets the bar for retention payment for the upcoming Trade Deadline.
As of now, the clear winner is the Hurricanes, adding two extremely talented forwards to an already star-studded lineup. If the Avalanche can parlay their draft picks and cap space for another addition, there could be some debate.
ITR 35: Round One – Inside The Rink
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