The uncertain future of Mikko Rantanen is the biggest question going into the final hours before the NHL trade deadline Friday, with the Carolina Hurricanes holding the keys to by far the most dominant player potentially available.
The Hurricanes could flip the 2022 Stanley Cup-winning point-a-game, top-line forward they acquired in late January to another contender or opt to keep him in the hopes of going on a long playoff run and taking a shot at a championship of their own. Carolina sent leading scorer Martin Necas, young Jack Drury and two draft picks to Colorado for Rantanen and now seem unlikely to sign him to an extension before 3 p.m. EST.
The risk is losing the 28-year-old Finn for nothing if he walks in free agency July 1. That was a fear for the Avalanche that spurred the trade to begin with, and now Rantanen could end up back in the Western Conference on a team they face in a best-of-seven series.
“We don’t make deals thinking about pivot points by what the other team is going to do,” Colorado general manager Chris MacFarland said this week. “Obviously, he’s a great player and he will continue to be wherever he is.”
Stay or go is also a question for pending free agent Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand, Kyle Palmieri of the New York Islanders and Scott Laughton of the Philadelphia Flyers, among others. The Islanders traded center Brock Nelson to Colorado late Thursday night.
Boston also already began selling, trading big forward Trent Frederic to Edmonton this week and Justin Brazeau to Minnesota on Thursday night and may not be done.
Marchand has said he would like to remain with the team he helped win the Cup in 2011 and has played his entire career for. But the Bruins could be headed toward a type of rebuild or youth movement.
Defending champion Florida, which beat the Oilers in the final last year, also has room to add more talent with top winger Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve and possibly aiming to return for Game 1 of the first round. The Panthers already got top-four defenseman Seth Jones from Chicago and could use Tkachuk’s salary exemption against the cap the way other teams have in the past to load up when injuries last through the end of the regular season.
Among the players expected to be traded before the deadline are Pittsburgh’s Rickard Rakell, Chicago’s Ryan Donato, Seattle’s Brandon Tanev and San Jose’s Luke Kunin.
AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.