The biggest domino of the trade deadline has officially fallen. While other big moves have been made around the league in the days leading up to Friday's 3 pm deadline, the Carolina Hurricanes are back in the thick of it. After sending shockwaves through the hockey world on January 24th by acquiring Mikko Rantanen from Colorado, the Canes have flipped him to Dallas.
The news first broke in the early hours of Friday, potentially signaling that Rantanen was on the move. The deal took a while to come together, but once things cleared up, the deal saw the Hurricanes send Rantanen to Dallas for Logan Stankoven, two 1st-round picks, and two 3rd-round picks, though the full details are still trickling in. As part of the deal, Rantanen agreed to an eight-year, $96 million contract extension, taking less to go to Dallas than Carolina offered.
Stankoven, 22, helps with the center depth, the one big area the Canes needed to improve at the deadline. He has 29 points in 59 games this season, but there is plenty of room for his game to grow. As for the picks, I'd bet the front office is trying to see if they can flip those to add another forward to the group.
Rantanen's numbers with the Hurricanes aren't going to tell the entire story. He finished with just two goals and six points in 13 games with the team, but he had so many chances that either hit the iron or failed to connect. He was an excellent distributor whose finishing touch wasn't there after a whirlwind few weeks with the 4 Nations break in the middle.
This move is a no-brainer for the Stars and creates a very interesting dynamic. If the season ended today, the Stars would face the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, creating a Goliath vs. Goliath battle in the first weeks of the playoffs. That series is going to be must-watch television, assuming one of them doesn't jump the Winnipeg Jets before the end of the season.
The more cynical will say the Hurricanes lost the initial trade with Colorado. I think the Canes took a chance on a pending free agent who they felt they could convince to sign long-term. While I was almost certain they'd hold onto him for the playoffs, the front office figured it was better to get something now instead of hoping they could convince him to stay before losing him for nothing on July 1st.
The Hurricanes will now re-shift their focus to make a push for the Stanley Cup. There are still 19 games left in the season, so there is plenty to play for in the regular season. Once the dust of the trade deadline has settled, we'll be back with more analysis of this trade and any other moves the Canes made on Friday, should there be more.