Report: "Back to Square One" With Rantanen, Deal With Dallas Stars is OFF

The Dallas Stars got permission in the early hours overnight to negotiate an extension with the Mikko Rantanen camp, to consummate a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes. But they were not able to work out a contract agreement, so that is off—for now at least.

There is no deal between Dallas and Carolina for Mikko Rantanen. It appears Carolina may have to go back to the drawing board. Doesn’t mean a deal/extension with Dallas can’t materialize, but it’s not there as of now.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) March 7, 2025

As insider Darren Dreger notes on TSN, "I'm not slamming the door closed.. it doesn’t mean a deal/extension with Dallas can’t materialize, but they're not making that trade with Carolina unless they get him extended."

The Hurricanes were adamant all day on Thursday that they would not allow teams to speak directly to Rantanen's camp until they had a deal in place first, then finally the Stars got that permission in the early hours overnight. But... no extension agreement—yet. And it appears it's that $14 million mark that teams aren't willing to cross.

It would seem that 3 contending teams (COL, CAR, DAL) have told Rantanen they aren’t willing to pay him $14M+. That’s not to say he won’t get that on the open market, but it’ll be an overpay if he does - based on market value.
— Rachel Doerrie (@racheldoerrie) March 7, 2025