March 10, 2025 | 5:10pm ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

RANTANEN ONLY WANTED TO SIGN WITH 4 TEAMS

Mikko Rantanen,

After Mikko Rantanen was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes and the team tried to get him signed to an eight-year contract extension, he made it known that he was only willing to commit to four teams in-season, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour revealed in an interview on Sunday.

During an appearance on ‘Canes Corner’ with Adam Gold on 99.9 The Fan in Raleigh, Brind’Amour let it be known that the Canes were out of the mix when it came to a contract extension.

“There’s not been one guy that has left here because they didn’t like it here – except for Mikko. He didn’t not like it. When he showed up, he said ‘there’s four teams I’ll go play for, well, you’re not one of them.’ So, there’s 28 other teams he wasn’t going to,” Brind’Amour candidly said. “The better question is should we have known that before we signed him or attempted to sign him.

"Mikko is the only one that I’ve been associated with that said ‘this is not for me’ and I think there are other circumstances on that. It’s not because of the hockey. It was because, I think, his family, it wasn’t for him. . . Good. I appreciate that he let us know that. We probably should have known that before we made the deal. Maybe that changes how we go about things.”

Rantanen ended up signing an eight-year, $96 million contract with the Dallas Stars, the team that traded for him, and according to TFP’s David Pagnotta, the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights were two other clubs he was interested in signing him now, in-season.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported on Friday that he believes the Toronto Maple Leafs, who expressed serious interest in Rantanen, were a team Rantanen “might look favourably on in signing with in the summer.” There are conflicting reports as to whether he was willing to sign with the Leafs now, after a trade.

[Editor’s Update: Pagnotta has since confirmed that Toronto was indeed one of the teams on Rantanen’s list and he was willing to sign with the club.]

The Los Angeles Kings also expressed serious interest in trading for Rantanen, but the star winger was not prepared to sign with them right now, either.

The Edmonton Oilers were another team interested in Rantanen, but trade talks never evolved past the exploratory stage, contrary to other reports.

Carolina acquired young star Logan Stankoven, two first-round draft picks and two third-round picks from Dallas in exchange for Rantanen, who told Scot Oake on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night that he opted against signing with the Hurricanes mid-week.

“I think it was last week,” Rantanen said. “Obviously, (being traded to Carolina) was a shock. They wanted (to sign me) at that time. I just had to look at all the options. I’ve got to thank Carolina for the time I was there. The guys are great, the team is really good. But I had to look at it from all the angles, and this was my decision.”