BOSTON — The Colorado Avalanche returned to New England this weekend for the first time since the trade that changed everything.
Colorado sent away Mikko Rantanen on a Friday night with the club in Boston getting ready to face the Bruins on a Saturday afternoon. It was a stunning move, one that has been analyzed and dissected from every short-, medium- and long-term angle, and one that still isn’t done impacting the future of the franchise.
There is one other team in the NHL that knows this experience. The Carolina Hurricanes also lost Rantanen last season, six weeks after trading for him from the Avalanche in one of the biggest transactions in franchise history.
Those two teams met at Ball Arena on Thursday night. It was a celebration of their pasts, with glorious Quebec Nordiques and Hartford Whalers uniforms.
It was also a wild game between two of the best teams in the NHL in 2025-26. Both clubs have lost Rantanen, one of the best players in the world, but are in the process of moving on.
Both clubs look like they are going to be just fine.
“However you want to analyze it, I think both organizations did alright, considering the pieces that were moved and shuffled around,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
It was a gut punch for both organizations, for different reasons. Rantanen was a homegrown star for the Avalanche. He was a Stanley Cup champion and a beloved figure both in the dressing room and among the fan base.
Teams do not trade that type of player in the NHL.
For Carolina, Rantanen was a massive addition. While the Avalanche has been blessed with all-time greats, the Hurricanes have rarely had a superstar at the peak of his powers. Rantanen’s addition was a statement of intent. Then, six weeks later, he was gone.
Teams do not trade for that type of player and then send him away six weeks later in the NHL.
“It’s a weird one,” Hurricanes center Jordan Staal said. “It’s an interesting one to think about, talk about and write about. I think we did a good job of backpedaling out of that one, the way it all played out. We came out of it with a great player and some picks.”
Rantanen’s last game for Carolina was, oddly enough, against Boston, the team he was preparing to face when Colorado sent him away. The Avs pivoted with a massive roster makeover, adding Martin Necas and Jack Drury in the trade from Carolina, then further overhauling the team just before the trade deadline.
The Hurricanes didn’t have time to rebuild the plane after dealing Rantanen, because that happened at the deadline. Still, both teams finished last regular season strong.
Colorado had what it thought was a rebuilt war machine, though Rantanen and his new team, the Dallas Stars, dismantled it with a stunning Game 7 comeback. Carolina won 9 of 11 games after the second Rantanen trade, and then the Hurricanes advanced to the conference finals before losing to the eventual champs, the Florida Panthers.
Both clubs made further alterations this offseason that were possible in part because Rantanen’s large contract was not on the books. Colorado was able to retain one of its big deadline additions, center Brock Nelson. The Avs were also able to sign veteran Brent Burns, last seen with the Hurricanes, to an incentive-laden contract.
With Nelson and Drury at center and Burns on defense, plus much better health for its core group of players, the Avs are as deep and talented in October 2025 as they’ve been since lifting the Stanley Cup in 2022. They came to Boston with a 5-0-3 record, despite zero games from starting goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood and two other key guys (Samuel Girard, Logan O’Connor) on the injured list.
Carolina had its chance to recast its post-Rantanen roster this summer. The Hurricanes, who added Logan Stankoven in the deal from Dallas, have already signed the 22-year-old center to a long-term contract. They also picked up Taylor Hall from Chicago in the trade, and the Blackhawks retained a chunk of his cap hit.
Now blessed with a stockpile of extra draft picks, they sent Scott Morrow plus first- and second-round picks to the Rangers for K’Andre Miller, who was a restricted free agent but is also now signed to a long-term deal. And the Hurricanes made a big splash in free agency, landing ex-Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers. Plus, top prospect Alexander Nikishin has found a regular role in his first full season in North America.
“I think we made out very well,” Carolina forward Seth Jarvis said. “(Stankhoven) and (Hall), we got some awesome players, but also guys that fit our organization really well and fit in with the way we play. I think it’s made our team a lot better.”
Carolina won at Ball Arena and moved to 6-1-0 on the season. Are the Hurricanes better today than they were the day before Rantanen arrived?
They’ve swapped out Necas, Drury and Burns, while adding Ehlers, Stankoven, Hall and Miller. Carolina also still has plenty of cap space to go after another high-end player and the Stars’ 2026 first-round pick to use in a potential deal.
“If you want a good player, you have to trade good players,” Staal said. “That’s just how it works. Our management made the decision. I think that was really the decision to make.
“I still love that we’re trying to get the best players and trying to be the best team. That was a shot that kind of didn’t hit. I’m sure there was a few mistakes here and there, but we got a great player in (Stankoven) and some assets for the future.”
Colorado does not have as much cap space or asset capital, but the Avs can have enough potential room below the cap ceiling before the trade deadline to make another impact move, particularly if a player like Ross Colton or Girard goes the other way to free up even more.
The Avs have been in Stanley Cup-or-bust mode for years, and have a well-earned reputation for fearless aggression around the trade deadline. The Hurricanes were not that franchise, but now they are.
Both of these organizations lost a great player. Dallas is a clear winner, because Rantanen is a fabulous player and signed at a reasonable number. But that doesn’t mean that Colorado and Carolina are clear losers in the aftermath. It might be the opposite, in fact.
We’ll see what happens with the Avalanche and Necas, but in the short term, both franchises have come out the other side with Cup contender status still intact.
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