Avalanche 'look forward' after trading Rantanen, still have Stanley Cup aspirations

BOSTON -- As Chris MacFarland wrapped up his remarks Saturday, as he explained the forces that had caused him to send forward Mikko Rantanen across the country from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes, a blockbuster trade that shook the franchise and fanbase, he uttered the words that were at the bottom of everything.

“He had the UFA card, and we felt this was what we had to do,” the Avalanche general manager said.

Rantanen is five months from becoming an unrestricted free agent, a player whose performance will dictate a massive contract after he has topped 100 points in each of the past two seasons. He’s on pace to do so again, with 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in 49 games for Colorado while averaging the second-most ice time among forwards in the NHL (22:30) for the team that selected him No. 10 in the 2015 NHL Draft.

“It’s a bittersweet day, right?” MacFarland said. “Mikko is a decorated player for us. He’s an elite winger in this league. So, it was a tough few days, but we just felt the timing was right.”

The three-team trade sent Rantanen to the Hurricanes, along with Taylor Hall of the Chicago Blackhawks. In return, the Avalanche received forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury, both of whom took the ice for Colorado against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday, along with a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in 2026. Chicago received a third-round pick in 2025 from Carolina and will retain 50 percent of Rantanen’s $9.25 million salary.

And that, ultimately, is the crux of the issue.

Though MacFarland declined to get into the specifics of shifting from negotiations with the Rantanen camp to trade talks -- “I’m not going to get into sort of the month-by-month, week-by-week chronology of it. I think it was just a tough business decision here for us,” he said -- it came down to getting a return for a player who may not have fit with the Avalanche’s financial plans for next season and beyond.

Which is a tough pill to swallow, knowing that a team with championship aspirations may have more depth today than it did yesterday, but that it is not exactly better.

Asked that specific question, whether Colorado is a better team now, MacFarland demurred.

“You lose a superstar, so we’re going to have to try and replace him in the aggregate,” MacFarland said. “Fifty-goal scorers don’t grow on trees; you have to usually draft and develop them and Mikko was a home run for us for many, many years.

“So, I’m not going to sit here today and say … we’re going to miss him. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about that. So, now we look forward.”

Making that slightly easier is Necas, the 26-year-old forward whose breakout to start the season had some thinking he was destined for the Hart Trophy as League MVP. Necas has slowed -- in terms of points, not skating, which is a strength -- but he still has 55 points (16 goals, 39 assists) and seemed destined to break his career high of 71 points (28 goals, 43 assists) with the Hurricanes in 2022-23.

He is signed for one more season beyond this before he, too, will hit UFA status.

“Marty Necas, he’s been around the top 10 in scoring this year, but I think it’s his age is a big part of that. He fits in with his speed,” MacFarland said. “He’s certainly a top-six talent. Whether he has another bump in his game with the way we play, we’ll see.

“I think Jack is hopefully that 3C (third-line center) that we’ve been kind of [looking] for. It’s no secret that this will improve our depth. Jack’s a gritty, competitive guy that I think our coaches will use on the penalty kill.

“We think there’s another bump in his game offensively as well. And it’s no secret that we’ve not been the best face-off team the last number of years, and I think that’s an area where he’ll help us for sure.”

Necas has played center in the past and he could earn a tryout there under Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, though he played right wing on Nathan MacKinnon’s top line Saturday with Drury at third-line center. MacFarland called Necas an “electric skater,” saying Colorado had been drawn to his speed.

This may not be the end of the moves the Avalanche make as they angle toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs and beyond. Colorado (28-20-2) entered its 3-1 loss at Boston on Saturday as the first wild card in the Western Conference, five points ahead of the Calgary Flames and two points behind the Minnesota Wild for third in the Central Division.

That could still include Gabriel Landeskog.

MacFarland said nothing had changed on the timeline for Avalanche captain, who has not played since June 26, 2022, the day he hoisted the Stanley Cup, but he did offer a tiny bit of hope.

“Gabe is continuing to grind, and we’ll continue to glean information,” he said. “Hopefully maybe it was month by month, and hopefully now it’s going to be week by week. But I think every little bit that goes by … but there’s nothing in the near horizon, that’s for sure.”

That’s just one unknown as the Avalanche and MacFarland look at their salary cap situation for this season and beyond. Rantanen was another. But even with the cap expected to increase, with more money to work with, Colorado decided now was the time, these were the assets to acquire.

It wasn’t easy. The Avalanche improved their depth, something they hope will help them as they head into the playoffs in April.

“It was shocking,” MacKinnon said after the loss Saturday. “I mean, it was pretty late; well, it seemed late at night. Just sad, obviously. I wish I could have talked about this not right now. Obviously losing, I’m upset about the loss, but bigger picture, obviously losing Mikko, really great friend, nine years, 10 years together, won a Cup, obviously. It’s just sad. I don’t know exactly what happened. I called Mikko shortly after, we talked close to 20 minutes. It’s just unfortunate, losing a great friend, great teammate. I’m going to miss him.”

“… I’ve been asking him. It’s just tough; you don’t want to get in someone’s business. It’s just hard. I remember when [Landeskog] didn’t sign, it went to the last hour and he was up. I just assumed it would be kind of the same thing. I never thought in a million years he would leave. So yeah, it just [stinks].”

And it didn’t make them an improved team today. As MacFarland said, “Obviously, Mikko, he’s a superstar. You can’t replace that.”

“These are tough decisions. There’s nothing done in a vacuum,” he said. “Mikko earned the right to be an unrestricted free agent and he’s five months away from that.

“You’ve got to make these hard decisions; the player has to make them and the club has to make them, and that’s what we did. Getting two cost-controlled assets was important. We felt we got a top-six guy and a good bottom-six guy, and away we go.”

Now, Bednar must see how Necas and Drury fit, all the while missing a star forward who helped win the Stanley Cup three years ago.

“Tough day, really tough day," Bednar said. "Like, you lose a good friend, good teammate, great player. It’s hard, you know? But I understand the business side of things and it’s a two-way street. [We] weren’t able to get a deal done and then teams are calling and it’s a business, you know? You’ve got to get what you can.

"I think we've got some good players that can come in and help us, but it doesn’t make it any easier. It’s tough to see Mikko go, for sure.”