Stars Sign Rantanen, Send Stankoven and Two Firsts to Hurricanes

Darren Dreger of TSN reports that an extensive back-and-forth between Mikko Rantanen’s camp and the Dallas Stars has finally led to a resolution. He notes that their detailed discussions have ended the speculation that he could be traded to the Stars.

Rantanen has been traded to Dallas, and the forward has signed an eight-year extension at a $12 million AAV.

When it gets done, from Carolina's perspective:

OUT:
Martin Necas
Jack Drury
2025 2nd Round Pick
2026 4th Round Pick

IN:
Logan Stankoven
Taylor Hall
2026 1st Round Pick
2027 1st Round Pick
(plus smaller pieces)

In between, 13 games of Mikko Rantanen. Thoughts?

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 7, 2025

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Did the Hurricanes Make a Huge Mistake?

What is going back to the Hurricanes? Carolina will receive Logan Stankoven, a 2026 first-round Pick, a 2027 first-round Pick, and 2026 and 2027 third-round picks. While this doesn’t make the Hurricanes better today and hurts their playoff chances, it will be intriguing to see if this winds up being a win for the Hurricanes. Considering Carolina took a huge risk by trading for Rantanen without a deal in place this deal looks like the Hurricanes made a big error.

What else the Hurricanes do at the deadline could be the determining factor in whether this was a good move by Carolina. In the here and now, it hurts. That they weren’t willing to wait this out and compete with Rantanen on the roster suggests they knew he was leaving and they would lose him for nothing.

Rantanen Changes His Mind on a New Contract

Word going into the deadline was that Rantanen wasn’t comfortable committing to any team ahead of the deadline and free agency. Having been stunned by the trade that moved him out of Colorado, the belief was that maybe one or two teams might have a chance to sign him, but he was going to take his time and make sure whatever decision he made was the right one.

Apparently, the Stars feel like the right fit for Rantanen despite never having played a game for the team.

Next: Sabres Add Cozens, Gilbert to Senators for Norris, Bernard-Docker