NHL general managers indicated that the Carolina Hurricanes' trade for Mikko Rantanen won't change their deadline approach.

The Chicago Blackhawks are in the middle of a long rebuild as they try to retool their team in hopes of being back in contention as early as the 2025-26 season.

The trade is a stunning midseason swap of point-per-game players in their primes, an anomaly in the NHL trade market in the salary-cap era.

The Chicago Blackhawks may have had Mikko Rantanen in their grasp for a few minutes before moving him onto the Carolina Hurricanes, but they could shoot for a longer stay this summer.

The Hawks will receive a third-round draft pick, but the Hurricanes' acquisition of Mikko Rantanen from the Avalanche is the far bigger part of the trade Friday, per reports.

The Carolina Hurricanes executed a bombshell three-team trade on Friday evening, adding Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen and Chicago

Mikko Rantanen, who played parts of ten seasons and won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, is joining the Carolina Hurricanes, the team

The Carolina Hurricanes have acquired forwards Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche and Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks in a three-team trade.

The word “blockbuster” gets thrown around a little too often in today’s NHL, often for trades unworthy of the term, in the same way that anything might feel like a five-star meal to a starving man. But the deal that dropped on Friday night? That one deserves the title, no questions asked.

Rantanen has been an essential member of the Avalanche's core since arriving in 2015-16, having won the Stanley Cup in 2021-22. Widely regarded as one of the NHL's premier offensive talents, he stands among the league's top five scorers over the last five seasons.

The Carolina Hurricanes are acquiring superstar Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche and Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks, per multiple reports.