NHL general managers indicated that the Carolina Hurricanes' trade for Mikko Rantanen won't change their deadline approach.

Also: Will Alex Pietrangelo's 4 Nations opt-out lead to more stars prioritizing their health over the event? And who will replace him?

New Hurricanes star winger Mikko Rantanen was reportedly blindsided by his trade from the Avalanche on Friday.

Rantanen is one of the NHL’s top playoff performers; he ranks fourth among active players in career playoff points per game (1.25) behind Edmonton Oilers forwards Connor McDavid (1.58), Leon Draisaitl (1.46) and his now former teammate MacKinnon (1.30) and helped Colorado win the Stanley Cup in 2022.

The trades are coming in hot and Cup contenders are filling needs. What are the biggest needs for each contender?

For one, you have the money part of it all. Collectively, Necas and Drury are making $8.225 million against the salary cap this season, which is less collectively than Rantanen’s $9.25 million cap hit on his own. With his deal expiring in the offseason and the other two being under contract for 2025-26, there’s a “run it back” aspect in play.

Did the Avalanche get a sufficient trade return for Mikko Rantanen? Will Rantanen adjust to the Hurricanes' style? Is acquiring a star rental player worth it? All that and much more.

The Hurricanes made a statement move well in advance of the NHL trade deadline. Carolina GM Eric Tulsky explained the team’s move.

Asked about the state of extension talks with not only Marner but John Tavares and pending RFA Matthew Knies earlier this month, Leafs GM Brad Treliving said, “Those are things that we always are looking at and talking about and rumbling around, but nothing to report right now.”

Trading Moose is fan abuse. Surely, they’re not done. Right? Shipping out Mikko Rantanen has to be the beginning of a mid-season makeover — not the Finn-ishing piece. Surely, somebody’s coming. Somebody big.

It’s been more than 48 hours and two games since the blockbuster trade that shipped Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes and brought Martin Necas and Jack Drury to Colorado. We heard from Avs players but what has Rantanen said about it?

The Carolina Hurricanes took a swing for the fences Friday night by acquiring high-scoring forward Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado