Some reports have Avalanche star winger Mikko Rantanen being traded this season. But Adam Proteau says it's far more likely that Rantanen stays with the Avs for quite some time.
As this writer noted on THN.com this past weekend, trade rumors are popping up regarding Colorado Avalanche star right winger Mikko Rantanen. And while one of those reports come from a credible source, we have to repeat ourselves -- we don't believe Rantanen is going to sign with any team other than the Avs.
Some might choose to suspect Rantanen wants a new contract that would pay him more than the $12.6-million Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon is currently earning. But even with the presumed raise in the salary cap ceiling, we don't see Rantanen upsetting the apple cart in Denver and demanding a salary more costly than MacKinnon's.
Let's focus on the obvious for a moment: Rantanen's current salary of $9.25 million puts him in line for a healthy raise. Giving him another $3-million per season would do the trick for him without him being paid more than every other Avalanche player. And when MacKinnon's contract expires in 2031, MacKinnon would get his own healthy raise. That sounds reasonable, right?
And let's be clear -- if Colorado management was worried about being able to afford Rantanen's services, they wouldn't have given goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood a five-year contract. But Avs GM Chris MacFarland understands that the cap ceiling is going to rise considerably in the next few years, and a good portion of that increased cap space is going to be spent on Rantanen.
If Rantanen and the Avalanche really were at odds, he would've already been traded by now. Waiting until the NHL's March 7 trade deadine to move Rantanen almost assuredly would lead to a trade that didn't bring back an equal amount of talent Colorado's way. And that would be serious asset mismanagement on the Avs' behalf. But guess what -- the Avalanche have always found a way to keep their stars happy. They did that with MacKinnon, they did it with superstar defenseman Cale Makar and star blueliner Devon Toews, and they're going to do the same with Rantanen.
You don't find many players of Rantanen's caliber -- and if you do, yo find a way to hang onto them at all costs. Well, not at all costs, but you know what we're getting at here. So long as Rantanen is being reasonable, there's a deal out there for the taking that makes the player and the team satisfied with the results. And despite those trade rumors, Rantanen is going to be an Av for many years to come.
