Insider Links Mikko Rantanen to New York Rangers

Things have been awfully quiet of late on the Mikko Rantanen contract front with the Colorado Avalanche. The last we heard was that extension talks were "pretty ugly" due to the continuing insistence from the Avs that they would not go above their 'internal cap' on a new contract for their pending UFA Finnish forward.

That 'cap' is Colorado superstar Nathan MacKinnon's $12.6 million AAV. Rantanen's camp is thought to be seeking more in the $13-14M range. So who will blink first?

Hockey insider Renaud Lavoie of TVA appeared on the Kyper & Bourne show this week and said he believes that if the Avs can't come to an agreement with Rantanen before the trade deadline they will seriously consider trading him—then he named the New York Rangers as a destination.

They're probably going to lose him, but they don't want to lose him without an asset in return. Is there a match with the New York Rangers?...
The Avalanche are like, 'No, if we can't have an extension with you, we're gonna move you. Even if we're probably a Stanley Cup (contender).'
If you get a good player like Mika (Zibanejad) in return? I think you're good. If you're getting an asset that's under contract for a few years, you're good.

Wow. Not sure how that will go over with MacKinnon if the Avs ship out Rantanen while the team is still in its Stanley Cup contention window. Rantanen is a two-time All-Star, coming off two straight 100-point seasons and well on the way to another with 24 goals and 58 points through 42 games thus far. Those players don't grow on trees. Zibanejad is having his worst season in a decade, with just 8 goals and 25 points.

The Rangers, of course, are in turmoil, with their roster likely to get more severely altered as we head towards the trade deadline. We've heard that they're trying to get JT Miller from the Vancouver Canucks, and dangling Zibanejad, who has five years left after this one at an $8.5M cap hit. The Canucks said no, though discussions might not be dead yet.

Could the Bluehsirts pivot and try to land Rantanen? It would be a seismic explosion in the hockey world if it ever came to pass.