Rantanen using 4 Nations Face-Off as reset following trade to Hurricanes

MONTREAL – Mikko Rantanen’s life has been a whirlwind since being traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 24.

In fact, Rantanen was still getting over the initial shock of the three-team deal, in which Carolina also acquired forward Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks, when he arrived in Montreal to play for Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off. In a way, having to concentrate only on playing games in this best-on-best tournament against Canada, Sweden and the United States will help the 28-year-old feel settled for the first time since the trade.

“Yeah, I think the playing side of everything is the best part,” Rantanen said after Finland’s practice at Bell Centre on Tuesday. “You just try to focus on the games. A tournament like this goes by quick. There’s only three games and then, hopefully, you’re on the top two seeding and then get to the final. It happens quick.”

Finland has one more practice Wednesday before playing its opening game of the tournament against the U.S. on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS). After missing the Hurricanes’ 7-3 win against the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday because of a lower-body injury, Rantanen went through the full practice Tuesday. He skated on a line with his former Avalanche teammate Artturi Lehkonen and Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov and expects to be ready to play Thursday.

“I felt good on the ice,” he said. “And now tomorrow is another extra day, so it feels good.”

Rantanen acknowledged the transition following 10 seasons with the Avalanche, including winning the Stanley Cup in 2022, hasn’t been easy. He has two points (one goal and one assist) in six games with Carolina after getting 64 points (25 goals and 39 assists) in 49 games with the Avalanche before the trade.

“I think it’s only been, it was two weeks I was there, so it’s too quick even to get settled after a long time in another place,” Rantanen said. “And we were on the road a little bit. So many games, so you just try to focus on the games. So, I think it’s going to take time. This tournament is, obviously, nice to see how we can do as a Finnish team. So, just try to focus here now.”

Rantanen, who can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, said “we had some talks” with the Hurricanes about potentially re-signing with them.

“But like I said, it’s really early for me because I’ve got to settle in first,” Rantanen said.

Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho has tried to help Rantanen get acclimated to his new team and surroundings. Longtime friends who helped Finland win gold at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship, Aho and Rantanen are still in the early stages of developing chemistry as linemates with Carolina.

“I can only imagine it’s been emotionally tough,” Aho said. “I was not even involved in the trade, and I only can imagine what he goes through and all the players that were involved. It’s a big life change. Fortunately, I haven’t gone through that, but I heard it’s quite a shock.

“So, I think this could be a good opportunity to reset kind of everything. After the tournament we go back, and either way this could be a good mental break from all that business side and just play and go from there.”

Rantanen had built strong chemistry in Colorado with reigning Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon, who will represent Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and understands that finding that with new linemates on a new team doesn’t happen overnight.

“I think chemistry with everybody, sometimes it’s instinct, but usually it takes time to develop that and find it with certain individuals,” Rantanen said. “But there’s so many good players around the League, so you’re going to find chemistry with someone else as well.”

Finnish legend Teemu Selanne, who is 12th in NHL history with 684 goals during 21 NHL seasons (1992-2014), appreciates as well as anyone how hard it is to find the kind of chemistry Rantanen had with MacKinnon and can understand his disappointment about the trade.

“I know how that feels. I played with Paul Kariya. It’s the same thing,” Selanne said of his former Anaheim Ducks teammate. “I was shocked when I saw that trade happen because that was the one reason that I was watching Colorado games because of the chemistry between those two guys. So, I was very disappointed when this happened and all the interviews that I have seen from Mikko is that he was very disappointed, too. And if you look at how he has been playing since the trade, I think there’s an emotional letdown.

“He’s still in shock, I think.”

Perhaps playing at the 4 Nations Face-Off can help that shock wear off and allow Rantanen to start fresh when he returns to the Hurricanes after the tournament is over. The Hurricanes (33-19-4) sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division and have 26 regular-season games remaining for Rantanen to get more comfortable before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“When you start playing games and (have) more practices, then you start feeling comfortable around the team and all the new routines and stuff,” Rantanen said. "It’s not very easy, but the time and the practices and the games helps. There’s so many of those, so it helps.”