According to the latest reports, Rantanen was seeking a contract worth $14 million per season, although he could have been willing to take less money to stay in Colorado. Even a figure near Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6 million average annual value might already have posed a challenge to the Avalanche, thus the trade.

The Carolina Hurricanes acquired forward Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche and forward Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks in a blockbuster three-team trade Friday. The Hurricanes sent forwards Jack Drury and Martin Necas to Colorado, along with a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

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.