The 4 Nations Face-Off opens tomorrow with Canada and Sweden opening the tournament in Montreal. All eyes will be on the Carolina Hurricanes participating in the tournament. Seth Jarvis will open up with Canada and potentially play on a line with Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon is currently playing on a line with former Cane, Martin Necas. Mikko Rantanen, who came the other way in that trade, will participate in the tournament for Team Finland despite missing the last game for Carolina.
Rantanen took a puck to the leg in the loss against the Minnesota Wild and was ruled out for the final game before the tournament against the Utah Hockey Club. Things have not gotten off to a great start in Raleigh for the 28-year-old. The former 10th overall draft choice in the 2015 NHL Draft has just one goal and two points in six games.
On Thursday, Jaccob Slavin and Team USA will face off against Rantanen and Sebastian Aho. Despite missing the recent game, Rantanen seems primed and ready to play a major role in the tournament.
The Canes were burnt last season with their big trade deadline acquisition, Jake Guentzel. Guentzel was the most sought-after player at the trade deadline and the Canes aggressively pursued and landed him while on an expiring contract like Rantanen. Ultimately, Guentzel did not want to stay long-term in Raleigh and Carolina was forced to trade his rights before the start of free agency.
It is beginning to appear that Rantanen could be on the same path as Guentzel when free agency opens this summer. Most opinions of NHL "experts" believe new general manager, Eric Tulsky, will fall short in his attempt to lock up Rantanen. This would be costly to the franchise two years in a row. The harder part will be seeing Necas continue to thrive in Colorado and develop into the player the Canes envisioned when they drafted him.
The combination of Rantanen's slow start, Necas's fast start in Colorado, and last year's trade for Guentzel is bringing bad enough vibes to this trade and franchise. The fact that Rantanen sat for an injury but essentially is fine for the 4 Nation's Face-Off is unsettling, to say the least. Is Rantanen fully focused on his time with Carolina? Will he be more concerned with this tournament and staying healthy down the stretch of the NHL season for free agency?
It is hard to worry about the player's focus after an unexpected trade and a shift in free agent expectations when Carolina is relying on him to duplicate his production from Colorado to make a run at the Stanley Cup. If management cannot see the same player they scouted in Colorado, it is not worth waiting till the summer to trade Rantanen's rights but trade him now for assets to help in the playoffs.