Hurricanes get: RW Mikko Rantanen, LW Taylor Hall
Avalanche get: RW Martin Necas, C Jack Drury, second-round draft pick in 2025, fourth-round draft pick in 2026
Blackhawks get: Third-round draft pick in 2025. Chicago retains 50 percent of Rantanen’s salary
James Mirtle: This trade was not one for one, and Taylor Hall was certainly not the biggest name involved.
The Avalanche give up the best player in the deal, and traditional reasoning in the NHL is that means they lose the trade. But the reality is there had been rumors all season they weren’t going to meet Rantanen’s asking price — said to be Leon Draisaitl-ish — and it made no sense to walk him to UFA status in July.
But this one will sting, big time, on the ice, as Rantanen was one of their heart-and-soul leaders, an all-situations superstar playing the second-highest minutes for a forward in the league. He’s on pace for a career-high 107 points this season — what would be his third consecutive season past the century mark — and solid defensively, too.
Good luck replacing that, especially in a midseason trade like this.
Necas has had a nice offensive breakthrough this year, but he’s not the all-around player Rantanen is and there remains some debate about how high the 26-year-old’s ceiling really is given his limitations. He’s going to get more minutes in top-heavy Colorado, and playing with Nathan MacKinnon will only help his growth, but it’s a lot to ask to replace such a big hole in the lineup and dressing room.
And Necas will also be a UFA in 2026, so he’s not locked in for long at his reasonable cap hit. Drury, meanwhile, is simply a bit of defensive depth down the lineup.
The other thing Colorado gains here is the cap space — $2.75 million separate Rantanen and Necas’ AAVs — and the picks, which should allow them to add further reinforcements before the trade deadline.
They’re going to need them.
For the Canes, the deal hinges heavily on whether or not they can get Rantanen to commit to a contract extension. But no team is better positioned than Carolina to sign him, as they have the best cap situation in the league for 2025-26 and can easily fit in even the biggest AAV in the league, if that’s what it takes. They also have countryman Sebastian Aho — who he is close with and has played on a line with multiple times internationally — to act as a salesman, which should help.
Adding Hall should help further bolster what’s already the league’s fifth-best offense, too.
There’s risk here on both sides, but given I think Rantanen will stay and he’s still only 28 years old, the win goes to the Canes.
Hurricanes grade: A
Avalanche grade: B-
Blackhawks grade: C
Shayna Goldman: Carolina’s No. 1 flaw over the last few seasons was its star power on the wings. Andrei Svechnikov has all the tools to be a game-breaker, but he hasn’t been consistent enough as a true No. 1 winger on a contender like the Hurricanes. By adding Rantanen, everyone moves down the depth chart and slots into more appropriate roles. After losing deadline acquisition Jake Guentzel to free agency last year, Carolina somehow managed to go even bigger — and at a relatively reasonable cost. Losing Necas in a J.T. Miller trade would have been a tough blow, but it’s absolutely worth the risk for Rantanen.
Rantanen, on paper, is exactly what the Hurricanes need, and the pending UFA now has a chance to show that he can be the guy instead of the number three star behind Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. And the Canes are well-positioned to pay him if he fits with the team. Hall’s a nice addition as well. He’s a solid puck-mover who should help the Hurricanes maintain their balanced scoring attack. Credit to general manager Eric Tulsky for going this bold weeks out from the trade deadline. This allows management to see how this team gels before making any further moves.
The Avalanche couldn’t win a deal that moved Rantanen out. He leaves a massive hole at the top of their lineup, considering how much star power drives their success.
But with Rantanen’s contract situation in mind, it does make sense to take a more proactive approach instead of risking losing him for nothing. Necas is scoring at the highest rate of his career, and could be the boost Colorado’s second-line needs — which became their biggest weaknesses after shoring up their goaltending. If Necas can help elevate Casey Mittelstadt’s game, it’s a step in the right direction. Drury should add depth to the middle six. And with more cap space and some picks, the Avalanche should be well-positioned to do more damage leading up to the deadline.
Maybe the most puzzling part of this trade is Chicago’s role in all of it. Sure, the Blackhawks got back their own third-round pick, which can be viewed similarly to a late-second. But that alone doesn’t feel like an adequate cost for Hall, one of their best trade assets — especially when looking back at some of last year’s deadline deals, like Tyler Toffoli, Anthony Mantha, and Vladimir Tarasenko.
And Hall wasn’t all the Blackhawks gave up in this deal — they retained 50 percent of Rantanen’s cap hit for the rest of the year to facilitate this deal. Cap space is one of a team’s most valuable assets (especially for teams that want to acquire players on multi-year deals ahead of the cap rising this summer). Management did an awful job of leveraging it in this situation.
Hurricanes grade: A+
Avalanche grade: B-
Blackhawks grade: F
(Photo of Mikko Rantanen: James Guillory / Imagn Images)
