Avalanche Journal: Even with so much information out there, Mikko Rantanen saga remains surreal

Professional sports teams loathe when certain types of information become public knowledge.

Most athletes try their best to avoid reading what is written or said about them, whether it’s from journalists or fans on social media.

That’s part of what has made the Mikko Rantanen saga so fascinating. For six weeks, there was a steady stream of reporting, opinions and information that blurred the lines between the two after one of the best players in the NHL was traded not once, but twice.

It’s why both Rantanen and his agent have decided to speak more freely about the situation than many normally would.

“I think it’s good now for me to stand here and clear up all the stuff, how it went down the few days in Colorado,” Rantanen said Saturday afternoon at the Dallas Stars’ team hotel, one day before he plays his former Colorado Avalanche teammates for the first time. “I can’t say many more times that I always wanted to stay. That was the plan.”

Rantanen was a pending unrestricted free agent when the Avalanche traded him Jan. 24 to the Carolina Hurricanes. He was stunned. His former teammates and coach were, too.

Exactly six weeks later, he was on the move again — back to the Western Conference and now with the club that has knocked Colorado out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in two of the past five seasons.

When he left for North Carolina, Rantanen didn’t think he would be back in Denver until next season, unless the Hurricanes and Avalanche met in the Stanley Cup Final. Now, he’s back, eight days after being traded to the Stars.

“It’s going to be emotional, for sure,” Rantanen said. “Hopefully positive from the fans, from that standpoint. Like I said, I never wanted to leave. It wasn’t like I asked to leave.”

There were nearly daily updates on his situation with Carolina. Rantanen was clearly irked by some of the comments made by Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, and when general manager Eric Tulsky tried to clarify what happened.

It has been a wild seven weeks for Rantanen. He’s still only spent parts of four days in Dallas because the Stars were on a road trip.

There’s been a lot of mixed reports. While there isn’t a full, clear picture of what transpired, there’s more information out there than most NHL transactions.

Here’s a general timeline of what happened before he left Colorado, cobbled together from what’s out there and conversations with people around the league:

Rantanen’s agent, Andy Scott of Octagon Sports, said negotiations began with the Avs last summer, but there wasn’t a formal offer on the table until the fall. Several reports suggested Rantanen’s camp was looking for a similar contract to what Leon Draisaitl, another Octagon client, signed (eight years, $14 million per season).

Scott said Rantanen wanted to meet with Avs management on his own. Rantanen referenced this when he spoke to The Denver Post three days after the trade. He thought they’d made progress and said he was willing to take a “significant discount.”

“We were still negotiating, and I felt like I needed to go talk to the front office, face-to-face,” Rantanen said. “I told them I’ll be flexible and I want to play here for a long time. And then a couple of days later, they traded me. It was obviously very emotional.”

The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun reported the final offer from the Avs before the trade was $11.65 million per season. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said, “The number floating around the league is $11.75 (million).”

Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli went a step further.

“The Colorado Avalanche weren’t willing to go to $12 million a year,” he said on the DFO Rundown podcast. “I think, in the end, his last communication with Colorado, I was told, they were offering in the 11.5 range, 11.6. He said to them, ‘You know what? I know we’ve been asking for 14, but if we could get to 12, that would get the deal done.’ And I was told he was traded the next day.”

Part of the reason Rantanen was surprised at the trade, Scott said, was Carolina asked Colorado for permission to negotiate a new contract ahead of a deal. Scott told the Hurricanes he and his client were focused on getting a contract done with the Avs, and he denied Carolina permission to speak with Rantanen.

The Hurricanes made the trade, anyway.

Avs players, including Rantanen, believed the situation would play out just like it did with Gabe Landeskog in July 2021 when the team captain signed a contract minutes before becoming a UFA.

The Avalanche has said little about the trade since, which isn’t surprising from a typically tight-lipped organization that is also happy with how the remodel of the roster has gone over the past six weeks.

Two big questions linger: 1. Would the Avs have raised their offer to $12 million (or more) had the trade not happened? 2. What about the negotiation process — or the club’s internal projection of Rantanen’s long-term value — led the team to pivot and make the trade?

Even with all of the information out there, there’s still context, nuance and moving parts that leave the full picture cloudy. And it’s still going to be an offseason, and potentially two, before anyone can say with any certainty whether the Avs made the right decision.

And it all leads to Rantanen having dinner with his former teammates Saturday night in Denver, and then facing them for what will be the first of many occasions over the next eight-plus seasons.

“I was obviously in shock like everyone else,” said Avs defenseman Erik Johnson, who was playing for the Flyers at the time. “It caught him by surprise, from what I was told. I know he loved it here. He’s obviously a franchise icon.

“We don’t win the Cup without him. To see one of those guys go is tough. We don’t know all of the conversations behind closed doors. It’s a part of the business that just sucks.”

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