The Athletic Hockey Show - Rantanen traded to Canes in 3-team NHL blockbuster

Episode Date: January 25, 2025

Max and Laz give their instant reaction to the blockbuster three-team trade sending Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall to the Hurricanes, Martin Necas, Jack Drury, and a pair of picks to the Avs, and a 3rd round pick to the Blackhawks, with Chicago retaining half of Rantanen’s salary.Hosts: Max Bultman and Mark LazerusExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Chris Flannery Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show. Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention? I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. And I need all of you to stop what you're doing and listen. Cannonball! Cannonball, indeed, Mark Lazarus, a blockbuster trade in the NHL tonight. Carolina is making a huge move for Miko Rantaninan, going back the other way. are Martin Natchez, Jack Drury.

The abs are going to get a second. They're going to get a fourth. And oh, by the way, Carolina is also getting Taylor Hall by making this a three-team deal with Chicago. The Blackhawks get a third round pick. Tough one to be in a deal involving Natchez and Rent and then come away with the third round pick. But that is where things are, or at least where they're trending. They're reporting by several major insiders, including R. Chris Johnston. What is your reaction?

And where do you start with a deal like this, Les? This is one of those nights where, you know, it's a good thing that all hockey writers or losers and are sitting at home on Friday night looking at their phones, right? Because we were like, oh, my God. This is huge. Like, my first thought was, like, we don't see trades like this midseason. This is an offseason trade where you got, I couldn't think. I kept going back and back.

And I couldn't find the last time a point per game guy got traded for another point per game guy in the middle of the season. Like we saw this is like, you think about the Kachuk and Huberto trade, but that's an off season trade. We see that in the off season. We don't see trades like this. Trade deadline deals are always dumps from one side. It's picks and prospects going one way and the star come and the other.

This is a full-blown hockey trade with, you know, a former MVP as a like a toss in, like a third team with Taylor Hall. This is an absolutely monster deal. Miko Ranton, I know he toils under the shadow of Nathan McKinnon and Kail McCarr. This is the NHL's fourth leading score over the last five years. He's on pace for a third straight hundred point season. This guy is an absolute monster. at the prime of his career.

And he's going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. And you know what kind of team can afford him? Carolina Hurricanes. They can. We will remain, we will see if that comes to fruition, obviously. A lot to be seen there.

That's a big wrinkle of this deal. But yeah, I mean, to me, the first story is Carolina is truly going all in here. They are not giving up something small in Martin Nitches. I think I would expect that when he signed that contract that expires in 2026 this summer,

my expectation was that he is going to hit free agents. after that. So maybe it's not quite like they're giving up this like young guy with a ton of years, a team control left. But Natchez is having a really good year, 55 points in 49 games. And they're playing him up to get a guy in Miko Ranton who is a, like you said, top, top player in the league. That is a piece that the Carolina Hurricanes have not had. They've had a lot of years of a lot of success. But they have never had guy quite like this and they have never fully broken through. Clearly that's the bet here is this piece puts them over the top. Well, that's what was the conversation we were having at this time last year?

It's how the Carolina Hurricanes are always the best regular season team that never works in the plus because they don't have the goaltending and they never have finishers. So last year they say screw it, we're finally going all in. They go and they get Jake Gensel, the number one rental at the trade deadline. Jake Gensel played really well for them, but they still didn't win. So what do they do? Do they retreat back into their win by committee? No, Eric Tulski's out. You're saying the hell with that, we're going bigger this time.

I mean, this is such a ballsy move for lack of a better term to make a swing. like this and get a guy who might only be there for a few months. Look, Miko Ranton is going to get Leon Drysidal money this summer. We're looking at eight years, $14 million potentially a year. That's a huge, huge contract. Carolina is trying to win the Stanley Cup right now. And in that Eastern Conference where there are no scary teams, they clearly think that they can be the team to come out of there.

And I think they can. I don't see another obvious team in the East right now. Carolina already might have been my pick to come out of the East. It's probably them or the Florida Panthers, maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs in the East. right now. Does this elevate them into the prohibitive favorite in your eyes? I mean, they've always been there. We all thought they would kind of take a bit of a step back this year with what they lost in the offseason, but they're just like a machine. And Rod Brindamore

just plugs guys in and they immediately become their best selves. So if you put Miko Randhonin in there and he's playing alongside Sveschenikov and Sebastian Ahho, I mean, imagine the damage that they can do up there. I still worry a little bit about the goaltending. I'm just not a Freddie Anderson guy. I've seen Freddie Anderson fail in the playoffs too many times. Also, the injury makes the injury concern is always a concern there. Can Kachakov make a deep playoff run? I don't know. There's better goalies out there than what Carolina has. And that's been the other, you know, Achilles heel of theirs. But man, who's going to bet against the Carolina Hurricanes with this lineup right now? No, it's really impressive. He seems to fit it like a glove. He can be a big

body. He can go north-south. He can score big goals. He can score on any shot, right? And Carolina is a team that's a volume team, but you had Miko Rantan in and potentially cut him in on some of that volume. I think you're going to score a lot more goals just that way. Let's go to the Colorado side of this last because they're the team that's losing the best player, good as we think Barton Naches is. Colorado is giving up the best player in this deal. How do you look at this from their perspective? I just, they can't be done yet, right?

Because the avalanche are still legitimate Stanley Cup contenders in their own right. They've been making moves, you know, they go out and get McKenzie Blackwood to stabilize the goal-thending situation. They're still loaded with superstar talent. They are trying to win the Stanley Cup this year. This is not a giving up on the season trade. This is a clearing cap space and getting some cost certainty. And getting Natchez back fills in some of that void that Ranton leaves,

but it also leaves a lot of money. And you don't know who's out there. I mean, we can all joke all we want about Sidney Crosby going to Colorado, but they are six weeks out before the trade deadline. Colorado's got room and needs now. And they're going to be major players going forward here. So I don't think they're done yet. it's going to be really difficult to truly evaluate Colorado's, you know,

productivity in this deal until we see what else they get. If you're Colorado, this is probably not a deal you're making if you think you have a good chance to resign Miko Rand. Is that fair to say? No, you don't win this trade. You do not get better by trading Miko Rand and it. Like, that's absolutely not what's happening here, but they couldn't let him leave for nothing. You can't have what happened to like the Islanders all those years ago when John Tavares,

you know, kept saying he wanted to come back and then just leaves for Toronto. So that's that just absolutely kneecaps of franchise. So they, they clearly thought that they weren't going to be able to afford in this summer. Because if they were going to be able to afford in the summer, they keep them. And if things go well here for nature, I mean,

you're plugging him in now to an even higher flying team. He's going to be a big change of environment for him from, I mean, they're both really good teams, but they do it in different ways, right? Yeah. His scoring could even elevate there. And then you have another asset and you can decide,

do you want to try to keep him or extend him or what do you want to do there this summer? So I agree they're not done. but I do think in getting a guy like Natchez, they have given themselves a path to upside still on this deal, especially if it turns out that Rantan doesn't extend in Carolina, which is still a possibility. Oh, I think Natchez is a great fit in Colorado. He's a fast and skilled player. You put him on a team that's more creative. I mean, Carolina is, you know, a blindingly fast team, but they're not the world's most creative team. You know, they just funnel pucks at the net and then try to get those ugly goals.

Natchez is a creative player. If he's playing with McKinnon, if he's playing. with someone else. You put him on the same power play as Kail McCar. He's going to be able to work some magic. I think Martin Aches will do great things in Colorado. He's not Miko Ranton. He's never going to be Miko Ranton. So you're trying to recreate him in the aggregate here. Jack Drury comes in, a nice defensive bottom six center, gives you a little depth. And if you can go out and add someone else with that money that you freed up, and then you get a second round pick on top of it, you know, you don't win this trade. You never win the trade when you give away the best player, but you don't have to lose it either. You can still come out okay.

without going too far into the speculative realm. What would you be looking for? If you're saying depends on what else they do. What's the missing piece? I'm not asking you necessarily for a name, although I would take one. What would they need to do to make this work? I don't know.

I mean, can you go out and you get someone like a Brock Nelson or someone like that? I got like another power forward that can kind of take in that ranting in kind of moose. That would be a nice fit. I mean, if you're looking for cheaper, you can get like a Michael Granlins out there, having a really nice point for game season, kind of under the radar in San Jose. If you're looking to, again, recreate Miko Ranton in the aggregate, there are pieces out there that you can get. You can go out, but the thing is, there's going to be other teams too, right?

This is a seller's market. There's like four teams right now that think they're out of the playoffs. So there's not a lot of guys you can go out to get. Taylor Hall, off the board already, just like that. So there's not a lot of teams out. Like we talk about Brock Nelson, but Lou Lamarillo is delusional out here thinking the Islanders are still Stanley Cup contenders or something. I'm not convinced he's actually going to trade Brock Nelson.

He just went out and added Tony DiAngelo to bolster the defense. there's not a lot of sellers out there. So someone like a Michael Granland, who might not be the sexiest name on the market, that might be the most available kind of player right now. But, you know, again, seller's market, it'll cost you. I'm Taylor Hall. Just to go back to Carolina really quick.

You know, he's a former MVP. He's a very good player. He is later in his career. You've seen him a lot this season. What's Carolina getting in Taylor Hall at this stage? They're getting a really smart player who's still got really good puck skills, does not have the speed that he might have once had.

He was kind of an awkward fit for the Hawks. He really wanted to stay in Chicago. He was bummed. He talked about this last week that he wanted to stay, but he knew that they were going to trade him. He understood that. I think Kyle Davidson had made it clear to him that they were going to move him. He wanted to be part of what they were doing in Chicago,

but he was their only real valuable asset for a bad team like that. You have to move him for what you can. He's he'll be good in Carolina. That's a good fit for him. You put him on like the third line or even on the second line out with the right guys. He can be productive out there, give you some depth scoring.

He's playoff tested. This is a good, smart, savvy player. He's great in the room. What I'm surprised, frankly, here, I'm in Chicago is how little the Blackhawks got out of this. They are eating $4.6 million of Miko

Ranton his salary and traded one of their allegedly top six forwards. And they got a third round pick out of it, their own third round pickback. I feel like being in the broker in this deal should have gotten you a little bit more than that. Yeah, that was one of my first thoughts too. Now, I do think it's important to note that this far into the season,

they're not doing $4.6 million in cash here, right? I think it's probably more like something than the low twos, right? So adjust your broker, you know, that's an expensive third round pick, though. Like Danny Wirtz is throwing out some money for a third round traffic. I don't know. I think if you look at the broker deals of the past, like if you just ask someone to eat a $2 million dollar salary one year,

you're not getting a second round pick for that. If you go look at what teams have gotten, being the third team on some of those deals. I think a lot of them are like fourth, fifth. So I think the Taylor Hall ups that. There is still the question, could you not have just have gotten a third for Taylor Hall? But maybe you don't get your own.

The Blackhawks own third round pick. Could be pick like 65, 66. That's pretty close to a second rounder when you compare it to Carolinas. Yeah, no, that's fair. That's fair. It's just, you know, the Blackhawks don't have a lot to play with other than cap space. So, you know, you're trying to maximize that cap space. This leaves them, they still have two dead money spots now retained.

So they only have one left that they can do. There's only one more trade they can do this year where they can be retaining money and getting an asset of that. They're just not going to have a very exciting trade deadline. Yeah, that is a good point, the retention side of this. Let me look here at the previous broker trades here. So the Red Wings got a second rounder in 2020, I remember, to take Mark Stahl, who was still a player. So you were getting something there. You had $5.7 million in contract.

But you were getting a player too. So that might not be the best one to use. Well, the Blackhawks have done that. You know, they got a second rounder for taking Peter Morassick's contract. They got a player. Taking a quote unquote bad contract is always going to get you more than just brokering a deal like this. Yeah, here's one. So 2021, the David Savard deal from Columbus to Tampa.

Detroit played middleman. They took half of Savard's salary. they got a 2021 fourth, and that was another 50% retention. So maybe a little more money on the ranton inside of that because, you know, you take it $4.6 million and Taylor Hall. You think you could have gotten a little bit more than a third round traffic. So I guess that's the point of contention in Chicago. But frankly, if people are mad, clearly the most important aspect of this trade.

Clearly the thing, that's the headline, right? Blackhawks get third round pick, you know, Semekhole and other players involved. I laughed when I saw Pierre's tweet, like the Blackhawks are getting a third round pick because my whole timeline is, you know, oh, renting it on the move, Natius on the move. It reminded me of the Charlie Brown Halloween where they're all going through. Oh, I got five pieces of candy. I got a chocolate bar. I got a rock.

I'll tell you, too, this is why, you know, as much as I hate Twitter slash X right now, this is why you can't leave, right? Like I'm on Blue Sky and I'm active on Blue Sky and there was just crickets on Blue Sky. I posted on Blue Sky that people on Twitter are talking about this happening. People are like, oh, my God. It's like it's like a different world out there. My tweet deck is like spinning like a slot machine and my Blue Sky deck is slowly trudging along. It'll get there.

It'll get there in time. Any other thoughts on this deal? We're obviously going to talk about it a ton more on Monday. But as we sit here on Friday night, anything jumping into mind. Yeah, we'll bring in Peter Ball. He'll give us the lowdown on Rantanin from, you know, he covered him for years. I'm just excited. Like this is, it's six weeks before the deadline.

I don't know why more teams don't do this. This is an NBA deal. Just make the trade, you know, give yourself three months with the guy to adapt and to make your team better. If this trade is making your team better, do it now. Why wait? Why wait until March 6th or March 7th when you might not be able to get the same deal? You know, with the four nations break coming up, I don't know how much action is going to be now. I'm just excited that, like, if this trade works out, hopefully we'll see more trades like it in the future.

And again, I'm going to be keeping a close eye on Colorado. They got, it's like that Simpson's episode where, you know, like the, the mob fights happening in the yard. And there's like the one guy standing still. And Homer doesn't want to leave. You're like, the little guy's going to do something. That's me with Colorado right now. What are they going to do? I got to know what are they going to do.

I love it. All right. Well, we'll all be on high alert for the next move for the Colorado Avalanche. But for tonight, that's going to do it for us. We will be back on Monday with Peter Baugh. And obviously a lot more reaction to this deal and more. Talk to you that. Thank you.