Mikko Rantanen’s Contract & Trade Situation Unravel After Recent Finnish Interview

The Mikko Rantanen trade on Friday, Jan. 24, 2024, was one of the biggest trades we have seen in a very long time. As news trickled in individually about who wasn’t involved in the trade, picks, and conditions, the overriding mark of this ordeal was Rantanen’s contract situation with the Colorado Avalanche. As the season went by, multiple reports updated the situation for the pending unrestricted free agent. Potential average annual value (aav), how many years, if both parties are making good progress, but as more news came out, it seemed like there was a roadblock between the two parties on what they wanted to settle on, which was the reported value per year.

It was reported that Rantanen was looking for $14 million per year, a significant number that not only puts him above teammate Nathan MacKinnon’s AAV but is similar to that of Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, whom his agent also represents and his recent contract extension.  Now that the trade has accrued, more news about the contract negotiations has emerged, especially with Rantanen voicing his opinions when a Finnish media outlet called Ilta-Sanomat interviewed him. 

What Was Mentioned In The Interview

The article, published on Sunday, Jan. 26, it discusses Rantanens’s past 48 hours dealing with the trade, all of the negotiations leading up to it, and how it shocked him after all that he has done with the organization for the past 10 years.

“However, I played in Colorado for almost ten years, and I did quite a lot for the club. We even won the championship. That’s why this trade was surprising, Rantanen said in the locker room, wearing a Carolina hoodie.”

He discusses what a possible extension might have looked like, how the talks progressed, and how he felt ready to propose a number to management that reflects his contributions to the team, their accomplishments, and future potential. He also aimed to align this number with the current “market value”.

Discussions about an extension with the club were open. I was ready to take a discount based on my market value. We discussed the contract recently, too, Rantanen reveals… 

The number previously floated around was $14 million. That would tie him with Draisaitl for the largest contract aav and make him the most expensive winger contract on the market. Beating out players like Artemi Panarin, Mitch Marner and Nikita Kucherov. The reaction to that number shocked many about how much he was asking and what a reasonable number should be based on his achievements, but whatever number Rantanen and his team were asking for, he seemed fair and wasn’t “too high.”

 I don’t think that’s true. I don’t want to talk about exact amounts, but I was prepared to accept quite a bit of my market value. That’s why this deal came as such a surprise, Rantanen says.

Despite all of the news and rumours circulating about his contract and the lack of results that were being accomplished, which could lead to a trade, Rantanen still believed that a deal would be made despite all of the outside noise.

To be honest, I didn’t think I would be traded. I strongly believed that an extension would be made at some point, but they decided otherwise. No contact was made with the club at any point, although the conversation was of course not everyday, Rantanen says.

The article then discusses the past 48 hours, including his reaction to his being traded, how he has dealt with it, and what the future holds for him in Carolina.

New Info Emerges to Plead the Avalanches Case

Within the past 24 hours, new news has emerged from insiders that reveals more internal briefings about the Rantanen contract situation. Numbers have been thrown out of what Rantanen “should” be paid based on his achievements, success with the team, how the salary cap is increasing, his skills compared to other wingers, and his importance to the team. Elliotte Friedman reports that the top offer the Colorado Avalanche has offered Rantanen was an eight-year deal at $11.75 million aav, a total of $94 million. That contract would make him the highest-paid winger, have the fifth-highest aav, and be the sixth most valuable contract in the NHL.