The 2025-26 season went so well for the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes that it almost makes you forget about the Mikko Rantanen saga from just over a year ago.
GM Eric Tulsky took a huge swing, landing the superstar winger from the Colorado Avalanche in a three-team trade for a hefty price that included parting with Martin Necas.
Rantanen was shocked, and the fit was never right, so after just 13 games as a Hurricane, he was flipped again to the Dallas Stars, his now long-term home. It was a pretty unprecedented situation, and in a recent appearance on Spittin’ Chiclets, captain Jordan Staal recalled what it was like during Rantanen’s short stint in Carolina.
“Yeah, that was a wild time. It was so weird, and I get it. I felt bad for Rants, too. He wasn’t really expecting to get traded. He was hoping to sign in Colorado, whatever it was. So we have like a star player sitting beside me on my right, and he’s not sure what’s going on. He’s trying to play his best, he’s struggling out there, he’s frustrated, and like Roddy’s kind of tiptoeing around because we want to sign him. But like, he’s not really doing kind of what we’d like him to do, but also, like, he’s so talented and you’re like, I get it, and he can make plays, and you’re like, okay, we’ll figure it out, but you also need to know if he was gonna be here. It was the weirdest time. Even for me, it was like, I don’t know what to say to him for the most part. It’s tough. It was weird,”
The 29-year-old Rantanen, of course, went on to sign an eight-year, $96 million contract extension with the Stars soon after being acquired.
While it was far from an ideal situation for the Hurricanes, they wound up turning Rantanen into Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third-round picks.
It’s safe to say that worked out just fine, as Stankoven has fit in like a glove in Carolina and was tremendous throughout their postseason run, racking up 16 points (11 goals, five assists) in those 19 games.
Certain organizations find ways to make the best of difficult circumstances, and the Hurricanes are absolutely one of them.
