What The Mikko Rantanen Trade Means For The Vancouver Canucks

News broke on Friday night that Taylor Hall had been scratched, as he would be moving from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Carolina Hurricanes in a three-team trade. X was pretty calm about this until DailyFaceoff’s Frank Seravalli revealed that Colorado Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen would be going to Carolina as part of the deal, marking this as one of the biggest in-season trades in years.

Here’s the full deal according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

To Colorado:

C Martin Nečas

C Jack Drury

2025 2nd Round Pick

2026 4th Round Pick

To Carolina:

RW Mikko Rantanen

LW Taylor Hall

RW Nils Juntorp

To Chicago:

2025 3rd Round Pick

50% retention of Rantanen’s $9.25M AAV salary

Latest From THN's Vancouver Canucks Site:

Kiefer Sherwood Ties Canucks Single-Season Hits Record

“Trust Your Game”: How Canucks Goaltender Kevin Lankinen Elevated His Play With A New Team

Which Canucks Would Make This Year’s Hypothetical All-Star Game?

While the Rantanen deal didn’t directly involve the Vancouver Canucks, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Carolina’s trade decision was between Rantanen and Canucks forward J.T. Miller. Carolina was one of a few teams noted to have interest in Miller, alongside the New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, Dallas Stars, and New York Rangers, with the latter being the hypothesized favourite. Three of these four teams play in the same division as the Hurricanes. Seeing Carolina make such a big splash may prompt their division rivals to make a move in return. To improve in a division that just welcomed in Rantanen, any interested team would need more coming back than Miller.

The Hurricanes are currently second in their division with 63 points on the season. Behind them are the Devils with 60 points, the Rangers with 52, and the Islanders with 45. Of these three, New Jersey is the only team currently in a playoff spot. The Rangers are only a point away from snagging the second wild card spot in the Eastern conference, which is something that could cause them to make a hasty move for more than just Miller. Canucks forward Nils Höglander was scratched in Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers — while this was likely done to help shake up the lineup, it’s been reported that the former 2019 Draft pick could be moving on from Vancouver in the near future.

Prior to Friday’s blockbuster, it was rumoured that the previous package for Miller included Filip Chytil, a first-round pick, and a prospect from the Rangers. The cost for Rantanen may make Miller’s price rise, especially given the fact that both teams operate within the same division. However, seeing that Carolina was one of the bigger contenders in any potential Miller deals, if Vancouver or Miller truly wish to move on from one-another, the Rangers may lower their offer now that they have less competition for him.

Something else to make note of is that Colorado doesn't necessarily have to keep the pieces they collected in exchange for Rantanen. Former Hurricane Martin Nečas has been high on Vancouver’s list for awhile, with CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal saying that the Canucks asked for him from Carolina in talks of a potential Miller trade. Could an Avalanche team that has reportedly been interested in Miller end up flipping Nečas for the Canucks forward?

This trade doesn’t just impact any potential Miller deals, though. Rantanen is currently on an expiring $9.25M contract, and has reportedly been asking for around $14M AAV in free agency, which is one of the reasons why Colorado felt the need to move on from him. As of right now, Rantanen doesn’t have an extension in place with the Hurricanes, making him a pricey rental if he decides to move on.

Vancouver is currently in a similar situation that Colorado was in. It has been speculated that Brock Boeser will also have a higher asking price than what the Canucks can fit into their budget, with projections coming in at around $9M AAV. While Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin said the team is “still evaluating” what they will do with Boeser, the Rantanen deal could influence what the team decides to do with him. If they end up thinking they can't bring Boeser back due to financial reasons, he could easily become a key piece in any larger trade that the Canucks attempt to make.

Whether Vancouver ultimately ends up making trades or not, tonight’s move certainly changes the market for any teams looking to move on from expiring contracts.

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.