Elliotte Friedman issues eye-opening remark on Mikko Rantanen's Hurricanes future, draws parallel to $112,000,000 Oilers star

On Monday, Elliotte Friedman shared his thoughts on Mikko Rantanen's future with the Carolina Hurricanes on his 32 Thoughts podcast. Friedman said the Hurricanes are determined to keep Rantanen long-term. He noted that Carolina’s strong cap flexibility gives them options they didn’t have last year.

"They have a top five to 10 player in the league on their roster, and they are going to try to do what they can do to keep him,” Friedman said.

"Tolski pointed out on his conference call with the media on Saturday that they didn't have the cap flexibility last year that they do have this year, and Carolina is in a great cap situation, and they can go places with Rantanen that they couldn't do last year and weren't willing to do last year."

Rantanen is in the final year of his six-year, $55.5 million contract and will become an unrestricted free agent. This makes retaining him a priority for the Hurricanes.

"This time they've went out and they've got Rantanen early and, you know, they'll let him get acclimated, but they'll put the press on they'll say, Okay, we're gonna do what it takes. They throw a ton of money at him, you know if you've looked at them recently," Friedman said.

Friedman pointed out that Carolina often uses deferred money in contracts. They have done this successfully with players like Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin. He said they might use the same approach with Rantanen.

However, Friedman also mentioned that this strategy may not always work.

"But, you know, the Oilers tried the same approach against the same agency with Draisaitl and it didn't go anywhere," Friedman added.

Leon Draisaitl eventually signed an eight-year, $112 million deal.

"So I'm not sure it's going to work, you know, but I think they are prepared to go to places that they've never gone before to try to get him signed," Friedman said.

Mikko Rantanen is one of the league’s top players and adds firepower to the Hurricanes’ roster. This season, he has 64 points in 49 games.

Carolina Hurricanes made a big move to sign Mikko Rantanen

The Carolina Hurricanes traded for Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall in a three-team deal with Colorado and Chicago. Carolina sent Jack Drury, Martin Necas, and two draft picks to the Avalanche. Chicago retained 50% of Rantanen’s $9.25 million salary and received a third-round pick.

Rantanen, who has 681 points in 619 career NHL games, brings a proven track record to Carolina. He won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022 and has 101 points in 81 playoff games. His next contract could cost $10-11 million per season.