The Stars will get an extension completed for winger Mikko Rantanen and purchase him in a blockbuster take care of the Hurricanes. Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, it’ll be an eight-year contract price $96M, price a cap hit of $12M. Jeff Marek of Daily Faceoff studies Dallas is sending rookie ahead Logan Stankoven and a pair of first-rounders to Carolina in return. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff confirms the picks are the Stars’ personal 2026 and 2027 alternatives, leaving Dallas with out a first-round choose till 2028. The Hurricanes are additionally receiving a pair of third-round picks within the deal, per Emily Kaplan of ESPN. These picks are additionally Dallas’ 2026 and 2027 alternatives, per Seravalli.
The Stars positioned defenseman Miro Heiskanen on long-term injured reserve Friday, per PuckPedia. The transfer opens up some extra cap flexibility with the Rantanen pickup and nonetheless leaves them with roughly $10M in flexibility so as to add one other asset earlier than the deadline, assuming the transfer signifies Heiskanen is completed for the common season following knee surgical procedure early final month. Moreover, Seravalli studies Rantanen receives a full no-movement clause in his contract.
Dallas thus holds agency at its preliminary supply to the celebrity winger, who will now be traded twice in below two months. Darren Dreger of TSN reported earlier Friday the $96M supply was “effectively quick” of what Rantanen would settle for to get a deal to the Stars throughout the end line. Nonetheless, he’ll take the under-market worth deal to hitch the league’s deepest offense in Dallas.
Rantanen notably accepts a lesser extension than what Carolina offered him: an eight-year contract price at the least $100M in whole with a $12.5M AAV. He’ll doubtless earn extra in take-home pay in a lower-tax state in Texas, but it surely’s nonetheless clear Dallas was a preferable long-term vacation spot for the Finnish star.
The 28-year-old finds his long-term dwelling in the identical division as his longtime dwelling in Colorado, the place he was coming off back-to-back 100-point seasons earlier than failed extension discussions with the Avs precipitated his move to Carolina in January. Colorado’s finest supply on an eight-year deal reportedly fell within the $11M vary, so he’s getting extra before-tax {dollars} by meandering his means towards his former Central Division rival.
Rantanen’s status wants no introduction, particularly because the scale of a participant of his caliber transferring mid-season was coated extensively when he was traded to the Canes. The 2015 tenth general choose and 2022 Stanley Cup champion with the Avs has produced effectively over a degree per recreation over his 10-year profession, together with a raucous 371 factors in 299 video games because the starting of the 2021-22 marketing campaign. On a per-game foundation, solely Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrňák and Mitch Marner have scored extra over the previous decade amongst proper wings.
Regardless of maintaining his manufacturing in Colorado every time he was briefly separated from franchise heart Nathan MacKinnon, he merely didn’t click on alongside Sebastian Aho throughout his quick stint in Raleigh. Rantanen managed simply 2-4–6 in 13 video games for the Canes, capturing at 5% and averaging below 20 minutes per recreation for the primary time because the 2020-21 marketing campaign. His possession impacts have been expectedly sterling, posting a 64.1 CF% at even power, but it surely simply didn’t translate to the purpose totals he’s used to producing.
Rantanen ought to instantly slot in as Dallas’ first-line proper winger alongside Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson, filling the opening vacated by Joe Pavelski when he retired final offseason. They’ve rotated a number of gamers in that position all through the season, together with Stankoven, whereas additionally elevating Evgenii Dadonov and Wyatt Johnston from their typical third-line properties at instances to trip shotgun. That instability will finish with the Robertson-Hintz duo receiving their most proficient complement but out of an already pretty robust group over the course of their careers.
Carolina has now remained unable to improve its top-six all year long, taking a winding highway from Martin Nečas to Rantanen to now, presumptively, the 22-year-old Stankoven getting an prolonged run in first or second-line minutes barring a subsequent commerce. It can open up roughly $3.8M in cap house within the commerce, assuming no different roster gamers are concerned.
Stankoven is a major loss for the Stars on this deal off their lively roster. After performing effectively in a late-season call-up final 12 months, he’s posted 9-20–29 in 59 showings for Dallas in 2024-25 whereas averaging north of quarter-hour per recreation. Chosen forty seventh general in 2021, he’s already outperforming his draft billing. He’s a major injection to a Hurricanes pool of U-23 gamers that already ranks among the many strongest within the league. Dallas, although, decided him expendable to land a top-line expertise with names like Johnston and Mavrik Bourque nonetheless within the system as present and sure future top-six threats.
It could make sense for the Canes to flip one of many first-rounders they’ve acquired for a big-fish ahead within the subsequent few hours. They already had their complete arsenal of firsts over the subsequent few years, a major extra for a group in a playoff rivalry window.
When Rantanen’s extension is registered, the Stars shall be right down to $13.8M in cap house for subsequent season with eight open roster spots. That’s not practically sufficient money to re-sign all of their pending free brokers, an inventory that features Johnston on the restricted entrance and top-nine forwards Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund and Dadonov as unrestricted property. It’s doubtless solely considered one of that group shall be returning subsequent season until they commerce away a wage at the moment on the books for 2025-26.
Nonetheless, Rantanen’s $12M AAV at the moment makes him the fifth-highest-paid participant within the league subsequent season behind Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and his former teammate in MacKinnon. He’ll stay in a Stars uniform via the 2032-33 season and shall be 36 years previous when his contract expires.
