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Mikko Rantanen : the Hurricanes got enough value, but…
Félix Forget
Mikko Rantanen : the Hurricanes got enough value, but…
Credit: For two months, Mikko Rantanen has been widely discussed in the NHL. The Hurricanes tried to make a big move by acquiring him in January, but 13 games later, Rantanen is now a member of the Dallas Stars. He clearly did not want to sign a long-term contract in Raleigh, and the Hurricanes did not […]
For two months, Mikko Rantanen has been widely discussed in the NHL. The Hurricanes tried to make a big move by acquiring him in January, but 13 games later, Rantanen is now a member of the Dallas Stars.

He clearly did not want to sign a long-term contract in Raleigh, and the Hurricanes did not want to make the same mistake they did with Jake Guentzel last year.

In return for Rantanen, the Hurricanes received Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third-round picks. It’s a nice haul, and when you combine the two trades involving Rantanen, it seems that the Hurricanes don’t appear to be crazy in terms of value.

However, even if the team managed to “save face” by trading Rantanen to the Stars, there’s still something that bothers me about this whole saga for a simple reason: the Hurricanes’ goal is to win the Stanley Cup this season.

Did the team get a lot of value? Yes, especially if we consider that Martin Necas was destined to leave. From that perspective, the Hurricanes did well, but that’s not the right perspective to take, in my opinion.

I’m asking you: if you want to win the Stanley Cup this year, what would you rather have on your team?

  • Mikko Rantanen
  • Martin Necas and Jack Drury
  • Logan Stankoven and picks
For me, that’s where the Hurricanes seem to be wrong. The team acted like a rebuilding team that wanted to maximize the value of its assets, when in reality, the team should be trying to field the best possible lineup.

And for me, that’s where it gets even worse, when the team’s GM, Eric Tulsky, admits that the Rantanen saga took so long to resolve that it prevented the Hurricanes from going after other reinforcements. I get the impression that the team’s plan was to use the picks acquired for Rantanen to go after immediate help (Brock Boeser? Elias Pettersson?), but they spent so much energy on Rantanen that they ended up empty-handed.

I’m repeating myself: in the circumstances, the Hurricanes managed to salvage things by getting a lot of value for Rantanen’s services. I just think that in the circumstances, the team didn’t prioritize the right thing.

In any case, if I were Sebastian Aho today, I would be pretty angry to see that my team is worse than it was yesterday. Because if Kent Hughes is being criticized by some for being inactive today, the Canadiens’ GM didn’t weaken his team, at least.


In rapid fire

– The Canadiens were inactive at the trade deadline: a first since 2013.

– Do you think Cole Caufield is happy that Christian Dvorak wasn’t traded?

– Being traded for a future seventh-round pick, wow.

– Do you agree?

– Reinforcements in Boston.

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