Hurricanes Have Options as Mikko Rantanen Mulls His Future

From Rantanen’s side of things, it’s all a little bit different. How important is the money to him? The Hurricanes can offer him both a winning culture (on the verge of their seventh straight playoff berth), and give him the Brinks truck. But he was just dealt from an organization where he’s spent nearly ten years of his life — he won a Stanley Cup there, built strong relationships and, if it were up to him, likely planned to play his entire career there. This trade was sudden and by all accounts blindsided him, which leaves him in a really difficult spot right now. 

Of course, I would love to see him sign a long-term deal in Carolina this instant, but if I’m to play devil’s advocate here then I’m not nearly so confident. If I’m the player, I feel like I would be doing myself a disservice by not going to free agency and seeing what all of the options are out there. His life has just been uprooted, and there will be a boatload of teams willing to line up and make a pitch to him. Carolina’s ace-in-the-hole is that they’re the only team that can offer him an eighth contract year, but he’s about to become filthy rich regardless of that and to me, that extra year does not eclipse exploring free agency. Testing the waters out there also doesn’t rule out an eventual return to Carolina if he decides they’re the most enticing option for him. Really, I’m just not seeing the incentive for him to rush into signing a contract before doing all of his due diligence.

Could He Be Dealt Again?

With the extension talks hanging in the balance, some of the media focus has shifted to the possibility of the Hurricanes re-routing Rantanen elsewhere before the deadline to recoup some of the assets they moved for him. The initial deal involved Martin Nečas, Jack Drury and two mid-round draft picks going to Colorado, so let’s break down what the ‘Canes actually lost in this trade:

In all honesty, this is a trade you make 100 times out of 100 if you’re looking at it from an objective manner. Trading draft capital is rather insignificant for the Hurricanes — they notoriously trade back on draft day to stockpile more picks — and they’ve drafted 20 players over the past two drafts alone. Their prospect group remains amongst the deepest in the league. 

Moving Nečas in the deal is what hurts the most, but he’s a guy that never truly fit the identity the Hurricanes strive to play with. And while it may be harsh, it’s fair to have considered him part of the problem rather than the solution as he’d become a perennial whipping boy for disappearing in the playoffs. There’s no denying his talent, but he was likely on borrowed time anyway and I feel that a swing for the fences in moving him for Rantanen is better than the alternative. Sure, you could have moved him for futures, but the Don Waddell-led regime was constantly criticized for not pulling the trigger on a big trade, so it’s unfair to question Tulsky should this one not work out. You can’t have it both ways, and if you’re going to swing, landing a guy like Rantanen would knock it out of the park.

As far as what the Hurricanes should do, I feel that when the dust settles, you’re left with an elite player who should elevate the team in what seems to be a wide-open Eastern Conference race this season, and therefore it makes little sense to trade him now. You may recover some assets, but is that worth the risk of taking yourself out of the running to re-sign him? Conceivably, he could be the missing piece to lead the team to a Cup this year, or potentially as he adjusts to the system and his day-to-day life in Raleigh, he could fall in love with it all and make the choice to stay. If you trade him away now, you’re taking all of that off the table and significantly weakening your chances to make any kind of a run in the postseason. Personally, I think you take the risk of losing him for nothing rather than giving up on coaxing him to re-sign — otherwise, why make this trade at all?

The Bottom Line

I decided to talk to some fellow Hurricanes writers about this subject because I wanted a different perspective on such a vital and important decision. Without letting either of them know my stance on the situation, I asked fellow THW journalist Zack Martin and former Canes Country writer Andrew Schnittker what they would do if they had the power — would they trade Rantanen before the March 7 deadline if there was no extension signed, or would they hold onto him for the playoff push and additional four months of negotiation time? Here’s what they said:

Martin: It would make no sense for the Hurricanes to trade Rantanen even if he was not signed by the trade deadline on March 7. No trade package could come even close to the deal they had to make to obtain him in the first place. If the Hurricanes decided to flip him, that would be terrible asset management, especially for a forward-thinking front office led by Tulsky. [He’s said] their main goal is to extend Rantanen but also let him settle in. It takes time for guys to get acclimated to a new system. They gave up a lot of assets to acquire a top-10 player in the NHL, and one of the best power forwards in the game.

The narrative has always been the Hurricanes don’t have a superstar – even though Sebastian Aho should be considered as one along with the rising Seth Jarvis – and they got one with Rantanen. There should be no discourse of the team possibly trading a player like that with such a small window to evaluate between Jan. 24 and March 7. The only thing that makes sense is to keep him past the deadline and take the next four months to work out a deal. Let’s see how the season and playoffs work out before making any franchise-altering moves, again.

Schnittker: I’m absolutely not trading him. Rantanen is an elite player, a top-three winger and a top 10-15 player in this league. You don’t acquire that and give up on your chance to keep it after what, 12 games? The timing of all of this ended up being strange with the 4 Nations break, so I would absolutely take the time to keep negotiating. You take every chance you have to keep a player like that around. Plus, this is a pretty weak Eastern Conference this year. I’d keep an elite player and take your chances trying to win that. Surprises (like the initial trade) can happen, but to me, there’s no scenario where the ‘Canes trade him at the deadline and don’t get worse this year. So, for both this playoff push and even having a chance to keep that caliber of player long-term, trading him makes no sense. I would not even entertain that.

While it means nothing in the grand scheme of things, the fact that all three of us are on the same page and pretty much echoing the same sentiments says all you need to know. We’re talking about an absolutely elite player here. The likelihood of a player of this caliber becoming available to sign or acquire is extremely rare, and the Hurricanes need to exhaust every resource they have to make sure he stays. Even if it ends in heartbreak, the fanbase will be much more appreciative to see the team do everything in its power to re-sign this player rather than give up at the first obstacle. Alas, Tulsky has already earned the benefit of the doubt in terms of his decision-making, and I have full trust in him to continue to do so.