Necas and Jack Drury were traded to the Avalanche on Friday night in a stunning three-team trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes were awaiting a Saturday night tilt with the Islanders when they found out about the deal.
The trade also features Martin Necas, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick heading to Colorado, while Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall move to Carolina and Chicago retains 50 percent of Rantanen's salary and receives a 2025 third-round pick.
The trade is a stunning midseason swap of point-per-game players in their primes, an anomaly in the NHL trade market in the salary-cap era.
The Avalanche have pulled off a stunner. Mikko Rantanen is heading to the Carolina Hurricanes in a stunning and complex Friday night deal also involving the Chicago Blackhawks.
Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky is explaining his reasons for pushing for Mikko Rantanen, in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche. Carolina engaged in a trade with the Avalanche, as well as Chicago on Friday. The end result is that Rantanen is now a Hurricane.
Drury’s uncle is Chris Drury, who spent four seasons with the Avalanche (1998-02), was a member of the 2001 Stanley Cup championship team and is the current General Manager of the New York Rangers.
The Colorado Avalanche has traded Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes, according to multiple reports. Rantanen is in the final year of his contract and can be an unrestricted free agent in July. He leads the Avs with 25 goals and has 64 points, which was sixth in the NHL entering Friday night’s games.
Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today! No. 1 pick Hart Trophy winner Stanley Cup champion 3 straight 90-point seasons Not too shabby pic.twitter.com/oUyZXa5Sj7
For one, Brind’Amour is pairing his two best players by putting them on a line together. Aho has led the Hurricanes in scoring in six of the last seven seasons, and Rantanen was a superstar in Colorado, logging more minutes than any forward in the league since the start of the 2021-22 season.
The Carolina Hurricanes will take on the New York Islanders (19-20-7) tonight with what will be a very new looking lineup. The Canes made a huge splash last night, landing both Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall for Martin Necas and Jack Drury in a three-team trade.
Colorado Avalanche trade forward Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes for forwards Martin Necas, Jack Drury and more in three-way trade including the Chicago Blackhawks
Multiple sources have reported that the Avalanche are in the process of trading Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff first reported this and later Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.