Mikko Rantanen is gone. Now what?

Sorting through a whole host of emotions boils down to a single word

Like many of you, I was coming off the high of watching the Canes somehow pull off a win against the Boston Bruins on Thursday Night. It was especially sweet as I had seats in the end where the B’s shoot twice, and it felt like the area was heavily loaded with Boston Bros. My voice is still scratchy from yelling CHALLENGE THAT at their general direction after Seth Jarvis’ game winning goal. You probably gathered from the TV that those fans were celebrating like they won the Stanley Cup after successful challenge wiped out Taylor Hall’s goal a minute earlier.

Considering the moves the B’s made on Friday, I do feel a little bad about that now. After all, Thursday Night was basically the last night of the old team. But not that bad. Anyway, I digress.

The news of the Mikko Rantanen trade likely happening broke mere minutes after I had shut my phone off for the night. When I woke up early and made the mistake of checking my phone I quickly realized I wasn’t going back to sleep.

I think it’s fair to say that the roller coaster of this whole sage has created a tangled web where it’s difficult to fully assess how you feel. Are you sad that once again it looks like the Canes are destined for an early exit? Angry at the player for spurning your club? Happy that management at least made a swing but it missed? Embarrassed at how this makes your club once again a laughing stock in national media?

Then the word was uttered, as if by magic, by Sara Civian in her Substack group chat. Frustrated.

I’m frustrated that it seems like the Canes keep taking swings and they don’t work out. I’m frustrated that somehow the management that took this swing didn’t do a hair more work to find out if Rantanen would be truly interested in signing an extension. I’m frustrated that once again hockey media is taking easy shots at the Canes for apparently tripping over their own feet when in fact, they just were doing what many had been wanting them to do. I’m frustrated that people can’t see that in the end, Martin Necas was probably going to get dangled again to improve a team during this deadline because his contract will never be better for a contending team. I’m frustarted that when viewed through the light that Necas was the person traded and not Rantanen the return Carolina got was actually pretty good, but few can’t look past the Rantanen ghost that clearly didn’t feel like he could play in Raleigh.

I’m frustrated at the fact that it looks like the Canes once again came up cheap when in reality, no one is disputing that they handled this situation different and that to some extent Rantanen overplayed his hand which cost him money. I’m frustrated at the people who are going to take their anger out way too far on Rantanen. Two months ago he thought he was going to be wrestling with staying in Colorado or picking where he got to go and instead could only choose between a couple of places, and in doing so really only had one choice because he nuked a couple of bridges. I’m frustrated that the people in his life who are supposed to help him make that decision probably cost him anywhere from $8-$16 million over the course of a deal—at least—because of whatever reason they won’t share.

I’m frustrated for the guys in the Canes locker room that made a goodwill effort to make this situation work, but the signs it wasn’t were all around us. I’m frustrated that a freaking flu bug decided the exact moment to work its way through the locker room was during a significant portion of the time that Rantanen would be here and affect how he saw his future fit. I’m frustrated that Sebastian Aho has been put in an awkward situation where a friendship that was thought to be a huge help in keeping Rantanen instead may be awkward because of the business of the sport.

I’m frustrated that teams like Florida, Tampa, Dallas, Toronto, and Colorado were partly spurred on by the Canes’ move to make moves of their own which also hurts Carolina’s chances of winning the whole thing. I’m frustrated we once again have an offseason of turmoil, and having to wonder just how much more the team will have to work to get those last pieces of the roster.

So yes, frustration is a really good word. We all have vented our frustrations in different ways, but ultimately it’s about the guys who are now going to be the members of the Carolina Hurricanes for the rest of the 2024-25 season.

Today the Canes will practice as a group for the first time since this trade, and tomorrow they take the home ice against the best team in the Western Conference in Winnipeg. For as frustrated as we are now, it’s arguable that they’ve been frustrated up to this point and now a huge weight has been taken off their shoulders. They’ve been left for dead again and laughed at. People going so far as to basically forget how many orgs—like those Bruins—have just given up on the season and are in much, much worse shape. You’re going to tell me you can look at what’s going on in Buffalo, Nashville, and Vancouver and say that the Canes are the ones that are a bad organization?

Hearing Eric Tulsky speak after the deadline really helped. It reminded me that while this org makes mistakes, they have shown they will learn from them. Drag out a contract fight with a star player you have under control? OK, let’s try to find a different way to make them happy even if it takes time. Try to stand pat because “we like our group” and don’t make a big move only to lose in the playoffs because you didn’t? OK, let’s try to make a trade for big fish this time. Lose a star free agent because you took too long to get to their number? OK, this time let’s show that player what we want to do from the beginning.

Tulsky reiterated that the Canes are going to keep taking big swings, and this offseason they have every reason to. They will have the most cap space, a ton of extra picks, and a core of experienced players on long term deals while bringing up some exciting young players who are tearing it up away from the NHL. With the stress of the deadline done and the focus on the playoffs for the team, the front office can now look at other players that could be open for a trade in the offseason and fill in pieces that they need for some big runs.

I feel good about the management of the team. I look at it as the squad really tried to swing big for the players on the ice and the fans. They ended up missing, but instead of continuing to just swing away during this at bat they managed to draw a walk instead. It’s heartening that an org that is the poster child for the hockey analytics movement can also recognize intangibles like fit in the locker room, and be willing to not make a bad situation worse. There was little to no reason for the Canes to hope Rantanen would ultimately perform better once the deadline had passed after Thursday Night’s no-show. It wasn’t a coincidence talks picked up after that game. Mistake made, move on.

The funny thing about the Stanley Cup Playoffs is that a team can look great on paper at the start but then the games actually happen. Goalies get hot, players get injured, momentum from a win carries over and creates a hole too deep to dig out of. The Atlantic Division is going to be a slog with some combination of Florida, Toronto, and Tampa Bay having to fight it out in round one and one of them for sure will not make it to Round Two. The Wild Card teams will have been in a months-long fight to secure a spot and will come into the Playoffs hungry against top seeds. The Metro is in a weird state of chaos right now, but one team will come out of that to get to the Eastern Conference Finals.

If anything, we may have our sign at just how ready the Canes that are left behind are ready for the rest of the season. We saw it Friday Night in Seth Jarvis being…Seth Jarvis.

The trade is done. Let’s get to the rest of the season and see where it takes us.