After Mikko Rantanen was traded from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Dallas Stars shortly after he got there, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said that the forward had a four-team list that he would extend with, and that Carolina was not on it.
“Mikko is the only one that I’ve been associated with that said ‘this is not for me’ and I think there are other circumstances on that,” Brind’Amour said, according to The Fourth Period. “It’s not because of the hockey. It was because, I think, his family, it wasn’t for him… Good. I appreciate that he let us know that. We probably should have known that before we made the deal. Maybe that changes how we go about things.”
Ultimately, Rantanen signed an eight-year, $96 million extension with the Stars. The Hurricanes had attempted to sign him to an extension after acquiring him from the Colorado Avalanche. The Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights were two other teams Rantanen was willing to extend with, while the Toronto Maple Leafs were another team believed to be on the list, according to David Pagnotta.
Rantanen, however, denies that he had a list of four teams that he would have been willing to extend with.
“I saw some things were said that I had a list of teams ready when I went [to Carolina], but that’s false,” Rantanen said, via NHL.com. “Obviously, it was a big shock to leave Colorado, but I went [to Carolina] with an open mind and tried my best on the ice. When I put the jersey on there, I tried my best and just decided just a little bit before the deadline that Carolina would probably get a better return for me if I would do a sign and trade; that it would be better for their team rather than me being a rental and going somewhere to play. So that was the decision. … I want to make it clear that I was open-minded in Carolina and really thought about staying there.”
It was a short, but eventful stint with the Hurricanes for Rantanen, but now he has his long-term home with the Stars.
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