Welcome back everyone to North America's #1 most trusted NHL salary cap article! Apologies to readers that were stopping on by to get my reaction and salary cap implications on the Lucas Edmonds/Ryder Korczak trade, but I don't think we're going to get to that one. That's because we had a bombshell trade that took place last week! Alright. Deep breaths. Let's dive in.

So, let's look at who is going where, then we'll break this down by club, player, and of course the fantasy implications.

Colorado acquired from Carolina – Martin Necas (26 years old, C/RW, $6.5M, 2026 UFA), Jack Drury (24 years old, C, $1.72M, 2026 RFA, Arb eligible), 2025 2^nd round pick, 2026 4^th round pick.

Carolina acquired from Colorado – Mikko Rantanen (28 years old, RW, $9.25M, 2025 UFA). From Chicago –Taylor Hall (33 years old, LW, $6M, 2025 UFA)

Chicago acquired from Carolina – 2025 3^rd round pick. CHI will retain 50% of Mikko Rantanen's salary.

Now that we've laid out who is going where, and before we look into each club, I got asked a question from a friend, "Why now and why don't we see trades like this more during the season?" The "now" part I can't answer, potentially because we're coming up on the Four Nations Tournament? The reason why we don't see blockbuster deals like this though is simple, most players now have a no-movement clause and or too much salary to move, which makes them incredibly difficult to be dealt. Before the Tomas Hertl deal with what felt like 11 seconds to go before the trade deadline last season, the biggest in-season trade I could remember was something involving Kevin Shattenkirk or maybe that weird overpay for Nick Folingo? That should tell you about everything you need to know come trade deadline as we're moving closer to where deadline day is going to be bottom six wingers and bottom four defensemen that are the ones that get moved around along with draft picks. That's what made this trade so impactful, there really is a lot on the line for all clubs involved. Or well…two of them at least. We'll get to you last Chicago, don't worry. I don't really like to be the one to say who "won" a trade when all aspects of a deal are still so new, but I'm going to start on the Carolina side.

Carolina Hurricanes – Wow…I mean WOW. Mikko Rantanen from about 2018 – 2020 felt like the best kept secret in fantasy hockey. Back in those days, I was in multiple leagues, and in each it always felt like Rantanen was taken maybe a round or so after he should have ultimately been selected. Now, he's coming off back-to-back 100-point seasons and would have likely gotten there three seasons ago had he played a full 82 games.

For the Canes, I love this trade for them from a personnel standpoint. I watched Carolina's game the other night against the Rangers where Rantanen and Andrei Svechnikov looked excellent together. I think Svechnikov is a player that has another level to go up to and if doing this deal means that Rantanen helps unlock whatever that looks like, then this is a trade that I do 10 times out of 10. I understand that this may hurt the Canes slightly as far as their defensive ability on the top line, but Carolina is a club that I trust can overcome most defensive deficiencies. Adding Taylor Hall into this mix is also a plus. Hall has looked alright for the Hawks this season where it was tough to judge where his game was coming into this year with him missing time in each of the past two seasons due to injuries.

Switching back to Rantenen now and the Carolina cap, I was a little surprised that this was not a sign-and-trade situation, but also don't know what to believe as far as what he is demanding and what market value will be. I've read different correlations to Leon Draisaitl and his deal last summer but given that Draisaitl is a center and Rantenen doesn't appear to be moving to the dot in Carolina, I can't see him matching that $14M AAV ticket. Maybe there's a club out there that outright offers just south of that at $13M AAV, but my guess is he lands above the current highest winger salary that we have in Artemi Panarin's $11.6M AAV deal. It's a good day to be Kirill Kaprizov, as Rantanen's deal will set the bar for what the market demands for an elite winger.

For the 'Canes, they gave up a solid player in Martin Necas in this deal and right now I would think that they are out of moves as we inch closer to deadline day given how much wiggle room they have right now. Regardless of how the playoffs shake out for this team, if signing Rantanen is the priority, then I would strike any serious negotiating window with players like Dmitry Orlov, Brent Burns, and newly acquired Taylor Hall. Last summer, I was a little surprised that Carolina wasn't a more serious suitor for Jake Guentzel, whom they acquired via trade, but this summer it is paramount to get Rantanen signed quickly if that's indeed the path that they wish to go down. The salary he will demand will likely take up around 13% – 14% of the Carolina salary cap, and if a negotiating window lingers on and he decides to sign elsewhere, then Carolina could be left scrambling to build a roster late in the summer. I don't doubt, as smart as the Carolina front office is, that they don't have a plan in place if either situation would present itself. Carolina has put themselves in position for a deep playoff run in the Eastern Conference, with my main questions surrounding goaltending, given past postseasons. If there's another aspect of the timing of this deal that I think was a net positive for this club, it's that getting Rantanen in the lineup in late January will give this team an even greater time period to play alongside what Carolina previously had in place. For fantasy I get that Rantanen no longer has Nathan MacKinnon on his line, who is arguably the best player in the world right now, but Sebastian Aho is excellent, and I would imagine his fantasy output to remain steady.

Colorado Avalanche – I don't want to read into how all the reports on how the club was shocked or surprised by this deal, but of course they were. This is a premier winger in the NHL that is now off your roster. What I don't understand here is why they felt the need to make this move even if the club was all but certain that Rantanen would explore signing somewhere else come summer. This isn't a player that I would want to move now and get something in return, instead of left standing in the dust, this is a player that I can pair with Nathan MacKinnon for a run at a Stanley Cup. I have heard the argument of saving money to eventually sign Cale Makar, who yes, will ultimately demand maybe the highest contract in the NHL, but that's not until 2027 keeping in mind a rising salary cap soon. Understanding that Nečas is the primary focus of this transaction, Jack Drury is a nice addition for Colorado and would not be surprised at all to see him take on second line center duties and move Casey Mittlestadt down the lines.

Nečas is a good player, one that I recall writing at some point was good for a few random hat trick nights a season. That's still true here and maybe he brings just a tad more speed to the Colorado lineup, but where this hurts them is on their power play. The Avs will not be able to replace what Rantanen provided them on the man advantage and my fear is that this becomes frequent come playoffs. Also bearing in mind, outside looking in of course, that we are still unaware of a return date for Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin. Like Carolina, I watched some of the Avalanche this week and it looked like Nečas and MacKinnon were working well together in the small sample that I caught them, but this is Nathan MacKinnon we're talking about here. It doesn't take much to fit on his line, despite the enormous time on ice amounts that his line carries out.

To me, Colorado can't be done making moves…right? They have close to $4M in cap available to them along with some pieces that are indeed moveable. I just have a hard time thinking that with salary available to them that they would be done with trying to improve their lineup. If you're out there rostering Nečas in fantasy, his stats might be a bit deceiving given his hot start to the season, but here's a real opportunity moving forward on this roster to produce at a high level. Keep in mind, Nečas is under contract for next season as well.

Chicago Blackhawks – I'm really trying to be the eternal optimist here. Starting with Taylor Hall, the one argument to be made about moving him would be that a younger prospect can be called up and take his place on the roster. The Hall signing was partially to get to the salary floor for this club and if you want to go into the veteran, lead the way, Sheppard for Connor Bedard, go for it. Yes, it can't hurt having someone that was also first overall pick and former Hart winner around, but the organization said the same thing about keeping vets around when the club acquired Nick Foligno and Pat Maroon. It's been great, now Bedard is looking to embellish calls like Foligno the other night against Tampa. I will say though that I thought a third rounder for Hall was fair given that Patrick Kane fetched a second-round pick, but what I don't understand is not receiving more in return for having to now retain half of Rantanen's salary. Taking on salary sounds daunting but it's more the salary retention that has me worried. This now puts the Hawks at two retained salaries along with Jake McCabe and I would venture to guess that there will be one more added before season's end to max the club out at three. San Jose did this last season but in return got real assets to use in their benefit, were for Chicago, I'm having trouble seeing those assistances right now.

*Salary Cap data from PuckPedia.com  

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