When the Carolina Hurricanes completed a blockbuster trade to acquire Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche, it was not thought that the franchise would consider flipping the forward ahead of the trade deadline, but there has been some buzz about that, with the Toronto Maple Leafs being a team that is in play.
“And don’t rule out the Toronto Maple Leafs either, as they could acquire Rantanen as a bit of security in case Mitch Marner decides to head to free agency July 1,” Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet said. “They could seamlessly replace Marner with Rantanen on a line with Auston Matthews and could probably get an extension done.”
The Hurricanes are currently trying to extend Mikko Rantanen, but he has not signed on the dotted line as of yet, so they could be incentivized to trade him away to get something back. Based on Kypreos’ reporting, the Maple Leafs seem like a team that Rantanen would be interested in extending with, and as he pointed out, it would be a seamless replacement of Mitch Marner, who is scheduled to hit free agency.
It could make sense for both sides, as the Maple Leafs would be able to add Rantanen for a playoff run this season, and potentially lock in a top forward for the long term as they are struggling to do that with Marner.
The Florida Panthers were listed as a possible destination for Rantanen as well, if he is traded by the Hurricanes. That is related to the injury to Matthew Tkachuk, which could end his regular season.
It will be interesting to see if the Hurricanes make the tough decision to deal their winger that they made a blockbuster trade for not long ago. If so, the Eastern Conference playoff picture could be changed in the short and long-term.
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