In last night’s rendition of ’Saturday Headlines’ with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the NHL insider provided an important update on the ongoing extension negotiations between the Carolina Hurricanes and Mikko Rantanen.
Friedman shared that the Hurricanes’ front office met with Rantanen’s representatives during the 4 Nations Face-Off break to discuss where both sides were on a potential extension. Carolina has put a firm offer on the table and Friedman believes the total salary is in the nine figures. Rantanen would become the eighth player in NHL history to sign a deal worth $100MM or more joining Alex Ovechkin, Leon Draisaitl, Shea Weber, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, and Ilya Kovalchuk.
However, Rantanen doesn’t appear close to deciding either way. Friedman noted that he’s still dealing with the whirlwind of emotions that came along with being traded from the Colorado Avalanche on January 24th. The update doesn’t mean that Rantanen won’t ultimately sign a big-ticket extension with the Hurricanes, but he’s understandably hesitant to decide on spending the next eight years of his life with a team he’s been a part of for one month.
Although Rantanen is a few months away from becoming the biggest free agent name in recent memory, he has earned the right to choose his destination for the foreseeable future. Still, whether it’s his right or not, his decision, or lack thereof, has put Carolina in a difficult spot.
Unlike the hodgepodge of prospects the Hurricanes dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins last season for rental winger Jake Guentzel, Carolina parted with high-level assets for Rantanen. Martin Nečas had been flirting with the Art Ross Trophy for much of the season and Jack Drury is more than efficient in his role as a third-line center. The Hurricanes could have a hefty dosage of buyer’s remorse should they lose Rantanen to free agency this summer (although a Stanley Cup championship may numb the pain).
The lack of immediate extension in Carolina has some insiders believing the Hurricanes may opt to trade Rantanen at the deadline rather than lose him for nothing. Carolina can bring Rantanen’s salary down to an impressively affordable $2.31MM should they retain another 50% opening his market to an entirely new audience. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, it’ll be difficult to recoup a player of similar value given their cap situation, almost guaranteeing they’ll be worse off for the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Carolina could target NHL-ready talent in a ’Moneyball-esque’ way of recreating Rantanen’s ability and talent by committee. Still, given the value of above-average entry-level contracts on a contending team’s roster, it’ll be difficult to find a team willing to move those assets for a few months of Rantanen despite his game-changing talent.
The only thing entirely known is that time isn’t on the Hurricanes’ side. Carolina has a tight window to decide on Rantanen’s future given that there are less than two weeks until the deadline. The best approach may be to put as much pressure on Rantanen and his representatives this week (without completely alienating him), and begin contacting interested teams should they fail to ink an extension by the week of the deadline.