Avalanche Predicted to Trade For Mikko Rantanen Replacement

The Colorado Avalanche pushed the Dallas Stars as much as they could in the first round of the playoffs this year, but they fell just short of advancing. Colorado is only a few years separated from winning the Stanley Cup and the front office is looking to get the team back to competing for another title. 

But in order to do this, the front office will need to be very active this summer. Colorado still has great players on the team, but allowing Mikko Rantanen to leave was a big mistake. 

Rantanen proved that against the Avalanche in the playoffs, and now the team will need to find his replacement. NHL writer Adam Gretz of Bleacher Report linked Colorado with the perfect player, Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks.

"The Canucks seem to have lost confidence in Pettersson despite their public support of him. He might also welcome a fresh start, and Colorado would be a great place to get that given the style of play and the offensive talent that is already place. Beyond that, Colorado has shown time-and-time again that it is not afraid to be aggressive...Pettersson would be a great target to give them another potentially dominant center behind Nathan MacKinnon (something they desperately need)."