In a blockbuster three-team deal, the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Avalanche star forward Mikko Rantanen and former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall of the Chicago Blackhawks while sending forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury to Colorado on Friday night.
Also in the trade, the Avalanche acquired forward Nils Juntorp, a second-round draft pick in 2025 and a fourth-round pick in 2026. Juntorp was then traded to the Hurricanes, while the Blackhawks received their own 2025 third-round pick, which had previously been dealt to Carolina.
Sportsnet reported that the Blackhawks will retain 50 percent of Rantanen’s $9.25 million cap hit. Rantanen, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, has no extension in place with Carolina, per Sportsnet.
The 10th overall pick by Colorado in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Rantanen has spent his entire career with the Avalanche, posting 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in 49 games this season.
Rantanen, 28, eclipsed the 100-point mark in each of the previous two seasons and helped the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 2022. Over his career, the two-time All-Star has compiled 681 points (287 goals, 394 assists) in 619 games.
Necas, 26, has 55 points (16 goals, 39 assists) in 49 games this season, ranking just outside the top 10 of NHL scorers entering Friday. The eight-year veteran has 298 points (113 goals, 185 assists) in 411 games after Carolina selected him No. 12 overall in the 2017 draft.
Necas signed a two-year, $13 million pact with the Hurricanes last summer.
Hall, 33, was the No. 1 overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers in 2010 and won the Hart Trophy (league MVP) after posting a career-high 93 points (39 goals, 54 assists) with the New Jersey Devils in 2017-18. In 46 games with the Blackhawks this season, the 15-year veteran has 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists).
Over 878 games with the Oilers (2010-11 to 2015-16), Devils (2016-17 to 2019-2020), Arizona Coyotes (2019-20), Buffalo Sabres (2020-21), Boston Bruins (2020-21 to 2022-23) and Chicago (2023-24 to present), Hall has 721 points (275 goals, 446 assists).
Hall is in the last year of a four-year, $24 million deal he signed with Boston before the 2021-22 season. Like Rantanen, he is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
The 24-year-old Drury, a second-round pick by the Hurricanes in the 2018 draft, has nine points (three goals, six assists) this season in 39 games. Since debuting in the 2021-22 campaign, he has posted 46 points (15 goals, 31 assists) over 153 games. He is in the first year of a two-year, $3.45 million deal.
Juntorp, 21, has played this season in his native Sweden.
–Field Level Media
