Avalanche Fans Can Blame Leon Draisaitl For Losing Rantanen

Although hockey fans everywhere are stunned and shocked by the Mikko Rantanen trade that sent the Colorado Avalanche superstar to the Carolina Hurricanes, maybe we should have begun to read the tea leaves as soon as Leon Draisaitl got his $14 million annual salary on a long-term extension from the Edmonton Oilers.

That's what insider Elliotte Friedman is insinuating, telling us that that contract, signed this past summer, "altered the negotiations" for Rantanen (and who knows how many others going forward).

Octogon is the player agency that got that deal done for Draisaitl, and guess who represents Rantanen? Yup, Octogon. They knew that with the salary cap going up significantly for next season (likely to the $92.5M range), that Draisaitl was worth $14M. They insisted on the same number for Rantanen.

As we all know by now, the Avalanche had set themselves an "internal cap" and in their negotiations with Rantanen, refused to go above the $12.6M AAV of their No. 1 star, Nathan MacKinnon. Once they realized this was a gap that couldn't be bridged, they had to make the painful decision to trade the pending unrestricted free agent Rantanen—or risk losing him for nothing this summer.

My impression from the MacFarland presser: Rantanen forced their hand. He admitted they aren't deep enough and that needed to change, but replacing him won't be easy.

"50 goal scorers don't grow on trees...We're going to miss him. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about that."
— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) January 25, 2025

Colorado GM Chris MacFarland called it "a bittersweet day", but it was apparent that 'Rantanen forced their hand,' as noted by Avalanche beat writer Evan Rawal.

The other factor the Avs had to consider, notes Friedman, is the fact that their other superstar, defenseman Cale Makar is eligible for "a ginormous extension of his own" next year.

It was all too much for the Avalanche to bear, and they had to pull the tripper.