Avalanche send Mikko Rantanen to Hurricanes, receive Martin Necas in blockbuster trade

In a blockbuster NHL trade, the Colorado Avalanche have sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Martin Necas. Taylor Hall will also be going from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Hurricanes as part of the three-way deal.

Rantanen and Hall will be heading to Carolina while Necas, forward Jack Drury, a 2025 second-round pick and 2026 fourth-round pick are all going back to Colorado. The Blackhawks will retain 50% of Rantanen’s salary, and they receive a 2025 third-round pick from the Hurricanes for Hall and the salary retention.

Rantanen, currently making $9.25 million, is in the final season of his current contract and will be due for a big raise this offseason. Over the last three seasons, only five players have tallied more than Rantanen’s 273 points, so he’ll command well over $10 million per season on his next contract.

With Rantanen due for a major pay bump, the Avalanche sent him to Carolina in exchange for the more cost-controlled Necas. This past summer, trade rumors swirled around Necas, but he wound up signing a two-year, $13 million contract to remain with the Hurricanes, at least for the time being.

With a new contract in his hand, the 26-year-old Necas is currently on pace for a career year with 16 goals and 39 assists in 49 games. Playing alongside the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar should help him boost those numbers further.

Rantanen, 28, gives the Hurricanes something they’ve lacked in recent years, elite finishing talent. He’s a career 16.3% shooter, and he scored 55 goals in the 2022-23 season. Rantanen has eclipsed the 30-goal mark five times and looks like a lock to make it six with 25 tallies already this season.

Another thing Rantanen brings to the Canes is an impressive playoff pedigree. He has 101 points in 81 career postseason games, and he notched 25 points in 20 games when the Avs hoisted the Cup in 2022. That will be useful for a Carolina team still trying to get over the playoff hump.

The 33-year-old Hall is back after tearing his ACL in 2023-24, and he’s struggled to get his footing on a bad Blackhawks team. Hall has nine goals and 15 assists, but he won’t be asked to shoulder too much of the burden in Raleigh, playing the role of a bottom-six scorer.

Drury, while 12 years younger than Hall, will do something similar for the Avalanche. He won’t be asked to do too much except play a solid two-way game at the bottom of the lineup.

With this trade, the Avalanche have created just over $1 million in salary cap space, so we’ll see whether general manager Joe Sakic has anything else up his sleeve as his team marches toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs.