Avalanche Send Mikko Rantanen To The Eastern Conference in Blockbuster Three-Team Deal
The Colorado Avalanche haven't been able to work on a Mikko Rantanen extension, and now the star winger is heading to the Carolina Hurricanes in a shock deal.
Friday night began slowly in the NHL, but all of a sudden things have heated up in a huge way, with a blockbuster deal going down between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Colorado Avalanche.
According to Frank Seravalli, the Avs are sending star winger Mikko Rantanen East to the Carolina Hurricanes, with former No. 1 overall pick Taylor Hall reportedly headed to Carolina in the deal as well.
When Hall was scratched, the belief was that this deal would centre around him, but now Seravalli and Elliotte Friedman have confirmed that while the details aren't known yet, No. 96 is headed to the Hurricanes.
This is a massive trade, with the Avalanche clearly not wanting to meet Rantanen's price once he hits free agency in the summer, and now, they've moved him in order to get a return for him now and save immense cap space in the off-season.
According to further reports, Martin Necas is a huge part of the deal heading back to Colorado, which would make this an immense pickup for the Avalanche, who have desperately been looking to fill holes up front this season.
That would be an amazing move for Colorado, who would get younger in the acquisition of Necas, who has shown this season that he's got the ability to be a huge star in the league, and paired with Nathan MacKinnon, he could have an incredibly high ceiling.
As of right now, all we know is that Rantanen, Hall and Necas have been moved, so stay tuned for full details on a trade that could change the landscape of the NHL entirely.
