The trade deadline has come and gone. For better or for worse, the Carolina Hurricanes made two deals on Friday. One of those deals was the talk of the town, while the other was under the radar and announced well after 3 pm had passed. It was a much quieter day than most expected the team to have, though one situation, understandably, took up a lot of their time.
Beginning in the early hours of Friday morning before being finalized a few hours before the deadline, the Hurricanes started the day by sending Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars, who signed him to an extension, for Logan Stankoven, two 1st-round picks, and two 3rd-round picks. The other deal saw the Canes send a future 4th-round pick to Nashville for forward Mark Jankowski.
Logan Stankoven
At just 22 years old, Logan Stankoven has a lot of hockey in front of him. Drafted 47th overall by the Dallas Stars in 2021, the biggest knock against Stankoven was his size at 5'8". For what he lacks in size, he more than makes up for in skill and feistiness. His former coaches and teammates said as much when the Stars did a feature on him a few months ago.
Stankoven made his NHL debut in Raleigh last season and while he didn't score that night, he scored in his second game and added an assist. It began a three-game goal streak and a stretch of five goals and eight points in six games. Stankoven finished last season with 14 points in 24 games before adding eight points during Dallas' postseason run. He has 29 points in 59 games this season.
While drafted as a center, Stankoven can be used up the middle or on the wing. He'll also be valuable on a power play that can't seem to find its mojo. Most importantly, he seems to fit the mold of a player the Canes value highly. As the centerpiece of the return for Rantanen, there will be expectations placed on him to produce. There's nothing that indicates he can't handle that pressure.
Mark Jankowski
Now that we've covered the rookie, let's talk about the team's veteran addition. Mark Jankowski was drafted 21st overall by the Calgary Flames in 2012 and had to wait a good bit for his NHL debut. While he finally did so in 2016, he became a full-time NHLer during the 2017-18 season with the Flames. He scored his first NHL goal in November 2017, knocking home a Jaromir Jagr rebound.
Jankowski scored 17 goals in his rookie campaign, including a four-goal performance in the team's regular-season finale. He followed it up with 14 goals and a career-high 32 points in his sophomore season. Since then, Jankowski hasn't scored more than seven goals or 15 points while playing for four different teams. In fact, he has fewer goals in his last six seasons than he did in those first two.
Jankowski's value will be in his penalty-killing abilities. Of his 60 career goals, 11 of them have come a man down, including five in 2018-19. I don't see him being more than a fourth-liner or the 13th forward, but there is still plenty to like about his game. On top of his on-ice abilities, Jankowski is under contract for another season at just $800k.
I'd be remiss if I didn't reiterate that the Canes also acquired four draft picks in the Rantanen deal, including a pair of 1st-rounders. It gives the team six 1st-round picks in the next four drafts, but I would bet that General Manager Eric Tulsky has something up his sleeves this offseason. They have a ton of flexibility with the cap this summer, too. The future remains bright for the organization.