This past Friday, there were serious rumblings about Mikko Rantanen being traded to the Dallas Stars. He eventually got dealt later that day for a 2026 first-round pick, a 2028 first-round pick, 2026 and 2027 third-round picks and young forward Logan Stankoven.
Rantanen, 28, struggled in his short tenure with the Canes, as in 13 games, he only had two goals and six points. The main reason is that he was still shaken up from being traded initially to the Hurricanes. Rantanen, until being traded to Carolina, spent his entire NHL career with the Colorado Avalanche.
Carolina Hurricanes General Manager, Erik Tulskey, said in a press conference following the trade deadline that “This just didn’t feel like home to him.” Tulskey and other members of the Canes front office tried very hard to make something work with the Finnish superstar, but in the end, Rantanen did not see a long-term fit in Raleigh. The Canes permitted Rantanen to seek a team he would be interested in signing long-term. That ended up being Dallas, and the Hurricanes negotiated to get the best deal possible. They have a lot of draft capital and a long-term piece in Logan Stankoven.
Stankoven, 22, has shown much promise since he got called up to the NHL last season. The Canes acquired Stankoven because of how well he fits into Carolina’s system. The 22-year-old Canada native plays with a lot of aggressiveness and speed; those are the two main criteria in the Carolina way of play. Logan also shows great puck-playing ability, and if developed correctly, he could end up being a goal-scoring threat.
While the Canes were not able to bring back Mikko Rantanen, they will have close to 40 million in cap space this coming summer. The free-agent market is expected to feature names like Brock Boeser, Mitch Marner, Nikolaj Ehlers and Aaron Ekblad. With the money they have next off-season, the Hurricanes are expected to be aggressive in the free-agent market.
In terms of prospects, Scott Morrow, Bradly Nadeau and Alexander Nikishin are all expected to crack the NHL roster next season. Dmitry Orlov and Brent Burns will be free agents by the end of this season and are expected to be let go once the season ends. This will make way for Morrow and Nikishin. Taylor Hall and Jack Roslovic are the two biggest names on the forward free-agent list for the Canes this off-season. Hall is expected to be re-signed to a short-term deal, while Roslovic could be headed out to make way for Nadeau.
Nadeau and Morrow have been tearing it up in Chicago, while Alexander Nikishin has been tearing it up in the KHL for SKA. Morrow and Nikishin are expected to be Carolina’s one-two punch on the blue line for years. On the other hand, Nadeau will add a goal-scoring threat to the Canes’ top six with his power wrister. Nadeau has truly outgrown the AHL; he has scored 22 goals and 40 points in 44 games this season. The young Canadian talent is showing a lot of promise, and the Hurricanes are anticipating his arrival.
