Report: Mikko Rantanen Was Interested in Joining McDavid, Oilers

The Mikko Rantanen sweepstakes were a roller coaster of events this week, as it became obvious early in the week to Carolina Hurricanes' GM Eric Tulsky that Rantanen wasn't going to re-sign in the offseason. Trade talks picked up in a major way, and while Rantanen wound up on a Finnish-heavy roster in Dallas, turns out he was open to a move to the Edmonton Oilers.

Mikko Rantanen was intrigued by a move to the Edmonton Oilers before the Carolina Hurricanes shipped him to the Dallas Stars on Friday, sources told TSN's Ryan Rishaug. The only issue was the Oilers weren't able to offer a young player at the same caliber as Logan Stankoven.

Edmonton's prospect pool of NHL ready talent is very thin, so Tulsky had to go with the best offer he could find. The Stars landed Rantanen for Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third-rounders

Because of the first trade and having the Chicago Blackhawks eat half of Rantanen's salary, it set Tulsky up to have a long list of suitors who were interested before the 3pm deadline on Friday. The Maple Leafs were heavily involved, so too were the Los Angeles Kings, and Oilers' GM Stan Bowman was trying to up his counter offers but nothing materialized.

Rantanen made his Stars' debut against the Oilers on Saturday night, finishing the 5-4 loss with a goal and an assist. The Stars third-period comeback fell short, meanwhile it's quite obvious with Rantanen locked into the Stars for many years to come, a big motivator to sign an extension with the Stars, was the fact he gets to face the Colorado Avalanche on a regular basis. Hockey players have long memories.