Behind the Hurricanes’ blockbuster trade for Mikko Rantanen: What GM Eric Tulsky said

It was hard for Eric Tulsky to hide his enthusiasm Saturday afternoon.

An even-keeled, by-the-numbers sort, Tulsky had the air of an NHL general manager who’d just pulled off one of the largest in-season deals the Carolina Hurricanes have ever made — because that’s exactly what he’d done some 18 hours before.

If there was any doubt whether Tulsky would, as the Canes’ GM, at some point distance himself from the Don Waddell era, he and the team’s hockey operations staff put that to rest late Friday, agreeing to a three-team trade with Colorado and Chicago through which one of the NHL’s best players, Mikko Rantanen, is now a Carolina Hurricane.

“(Rantanen) is a fantastic fit for the way we play,” Tulsky said. “We play a system that has us battling for pucks along the walls and trying to make plays at the net front, and he’s just one of the best in the league at those things.”

The nuts and bolts of the trade are simple enough:

▪ The Hurricanes acquired Rantanen from Colorado, and forward Taylor Hall from Chicago

▪ The Avalanche received forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury, a second-round pick in 2025, and a fourth-round pick in 2026.

▪ The Blackhawks received their own third-round pick in 2025 back, and retained 50% of Rantanen’s salary.

Beyond the straight details, though, the trade signaled to the rest of the NHL that the Hurricanes are on a Stanley Cup mission — again.

A year ago, the Canes made a couple of moves closer to the NHL’s trade deadline, the most formidable of which was acquiring Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Carolina also added Evgeny Kuznetsov last season.

Guentzel performed admirably, and appeared to fit in well with the Canes’ style of play. But the Canes fell short in the playoffs, and Guentzel signed with Tampa Bay in the offseason.

But Guentzel, who is having a great first season with Tampa Bay, is no Mikko Rantanen.

Who is Mikko Rantanen?

Rantanen is a top-10 NHL star. He has surpassed the 100-point mark in each of the past two regular seasons with the Avalanche, putting up 55 goals and 50 assists in 82 games in 2022-23, and 42-62-104 totals last season. This season, the 6-4, 215-pound Rantanen, an alternate captain for Colorado, has 25 goals and 39 assists for 64 points in 49 games. Now in his 10th NHL season, his 64 points rank sixth in the NHL, and he is seventh in goals (25).

The Nousiainen, Finland, native — yes, another Finn — also leads the Avalanche in goals (25) and power-play goals (8), ranks second on the team in assists (39), points and even-strength points (45) and third in power-play points (19).

“I don’t think there’s any question he’ll be a tremendous fit on the ice,” Tulsky said. “I’ve heard nothing but great things about him off the ice ... He’s a fantastic player, and we expect him to change our team and make us better. That’s what we get judged by.”

Rantanen has 681 points in 619 regular-season games, but where he’s made his biggest mark has been in the playoffs, where he has 101 points in 81 games. Oh, and he won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022.

“Having someone with his size and strength as the game gets more physical and more intense is obviously beneficial,” Tulsky said. “He’s had playoff success. Of course that’s something you always want to take the opportunity to bring in when you can. He’s one of the best players in the league and he’s good at a lot of things. Playoffs are one of them.”

Rantanen is in the final year of a six-year, $55.5 million contract that pays him $9.25 million annually. Though the Blackhawks retained half of that salary for the remainder of this season, both parties are already thinking ahead.

“Of course, we’ve talked to the agent,” Tulsky said. “It’s very preliminary, it was first conversations. It’s a big deal, and it would take a little time, just like the trade did, so we’re getting to work on it as early as we can. But part of it, you know, he needs to spend a little bit of time getting to know us and making sure he likes the city, likes the team, likes the coach, likes the players. That’ll happen over the next days, weeks, whatever, and we will be talking to the agent throughout. I wouldn’t expect him to sign away the next six or seven or eight years of his life without knowing what he was getting into.”

Tulsky continued: “That’s part of what doing (the trade) early buys, is the chance for everybody to understand the relationship before we commit to anything.”

Taylor Hall more than a throw-in

Oh, and Hall? As a 15-year NHL veteran and former league MVP, Hall is hardly a throw-in.

The first overall selection in the 2010 NHL Draft by Edmonton, Hall was an All-Star in his first full season with the Oilers, during which he put up 53 assists and 80 points in 75 games.

In 2017-18, during his second season with New Jersey, Hall had his best professional season, finishing with 93 points in 76 regular-season games, had six points in five playoff contests, and won the Hart Trophy.

”It’s understandable that the focus would be on Mikko, because of his stature in the league, but Taylor’s a huge piece, too,” Tulsky said.

Hall has 266 goals and 431 assists for 697 points, to go with 29 points in 39 playoff games.

This season, Hall has nine goals and 15 assists with 82 shots on goal in 46 games. He is in the final year of a four-year, $24 million deal he signed with the Bruins in 2021.

“Ultimately, one of the things we felt our team could stand to have was a little bit of an upgrade on skill and offensive punch,” Tulsky said. “(Necas) is one of the most skilled players in the league, so if he’s going back, it’s not easy to upgrade on skill. But Mikko is an incredible offensive force, and Taylor brings a lot of skill and some size and some speed and we think he’s going to fit and help upgrade our scoring punch also.”

Moving forward

But what about the players the Canes lost in the deal? Necas always had a flair for the dramatic, particularly in overtime and on the power play, and Drury wasn’t flashy, but added grit, defensive accountability and faceoff prowess.

“I don’t want to diminish what we gave up,” Tulsky said. “Marty Necas is a great player, who might go there and get 80 or 90 or 100 points. Jack Drury is a great player who is going to go there and be a big part of their team and a fantastic part of their locker room. Those are really hard pieces to give up, and we didn’t do it lightly.”

So, the next question is: Are the Hurricanes done? Is this the team’s “biggest splash”?

“There are not many trades in a year bigger than Mikko Rantanen changing teams,” Tulsky said with a laugh. “I think the safe bet would be on this deal being the biggest deal we will make this year.”

Biggest, but not the only deal?

“I think our core mantra as a franchise is that we never want to miss an opportunity to make our team better,” Tulsky said. “Until we have the 20 best players in the league all on one team, there’s always ways you can get better.”