‘Shocked’ Rantanen says trade to Hurricanes hasn’t sunk in

After a decade with the Colorado Avalanche, the Mikko Rantanen was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night and debuted with his new team on Saturday. He said he didn’t see the deal coming.

Jan 26, 2025 - 19:12

‘Shocked’ Rantanen says trade to Hurricanes hasn’t sunk in

It was a whirlwind 24 hours for Mikko Rantanen.

After a decade with the Colorado Avalanche, the pending free-agent forward was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night and debuted with his new team on Saturday.

Following that contest — a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders — Rantanen told reporters he didn’t see the trade coming.

“I was shocked yesterday. I was surprised. I don’t really wanna get into too many details, but it was a surprise for sure,” Rantanen said.

The 28-year-old Finn was held off the scoresheet in 18 minutes 54 seconds of action on Long Island.

He said the sudden change to Carolina hasn’t quite sunk in yet.

“It happened too quick and today was a game, so had to get ready for the game. So maybe (it will) when we have a couple days off here now,” Rantanen said.

“I really wanna just think about the future now. It’s behind us. It’s a rough business in the NHL and sometimes it goes like this. I think it’s gonna hit a little bit. It hasn’t hit maybe yet.”

The full three-team transaction saw Rantanen and Taylor Hall head to the Hurricanes and Martin Necas and Jack Drury move to Colorado while the Chicago Blackhawks picked up a third-round draft pick and retained half of Rantanen’s salary.

While Rantanen hadn’t fully processed the dramatic deal, his former teammate and linemate Nathan MacKinnon said earlier Saturday it was “sad.”

“I wish I could’ve talked to him. Just bigger picture, I mean losing Mikko, great friend, nine years, 10 years together. Won a cup obviously. It’s just sad,” MacKinnon said.

“I never thought in a million years he would leave. So yeah, it just sucks.”

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Rantanen’s new linemate appears to be fellow Finn Sebastian Aho. Rantanen said it’s the first time they’ve shared the ice since their junior days.

“He’s a good player, very smart player, easy to play with so hopefully we can get the chemistry building and get some offence going,” Rantanen said.

But for now, the star winger may just want to find a bed.

“Not a lot of sleep, a lot of emotions going through because it was 10 years in Colorado. So it was a long time, and so maybe that’s the hardest,” he said.