Just days after being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in a surprising midseason move, Mikko Rantanen opened up about the events that led to the trade and his reaction to being moved by the Colorado Avalanche. In an interview with The Athletic’s Peter Baugh on Monday, Rantanen discussed the trade, his contract negotiations with the Avalanche, and his new chapter with the Hurricanes. Notably, Rantanen revealed that he was “prepared to take a significant discount” to stay in Colorado, as originally reported by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. “I was willing to accept a major pay cut from my market value,” Rantanen stated. “We had some discussions just a couple of days before, and then they traded me. That’s what happened. That’s why I didn’t expect it.”
The Avalanche traded Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, acquiring Martin Necas, Jack Drury, and draft picks in return. Colorado quickly suffered a loss to the Bruins in their first game without Rantanen. Rantanen revealed that he “had a sniff that something might be happening” when Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland called him while he was at a hotel in Boston. It was then that Rantanen realized what was going on. “I only had a sniff because he called me, not before that,” Rantanen admitted. “I had no idea. It’s surprising, for sure.” With Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6 million cap hit and the upcoming extension for Cale Makar, the Avalanche faced tough financial decisions. They chose to trade Rantanen ahead of the deadline rather than risk losing him for nothing next July. MacFarland explained his reasoning before the 3-1 loss to the Bruins, saying, as reported by ESPN, “You feel that you do what’s best for the logo and best for the team. It hurts, but you’ve got to make these hard decisions.”
Leave a Reply