Paul Bissonnette blatantly urges Carolina Hurricanes to 'learn' from Mikko Rantanen's short-lived trade

NHL insider Paul Bissonnette believes the Carolina Hurricanes made a mistake with the Mikko Rantanen trade. Carolina traded for Rantanen from Colorado on Jan. 24, but he only played 13 games with them. The team could not reach a long-term deal, so they traded him to the Dallas Stars on Friday. Dallas quickly signed Rantanen to an eight-year, $96 million contract.

Speaking on NHL on TNT’s Face-Off, Bissonnette said the team should have secured Rantanen long-term before trading for him.

"I think that's a lesson that Carolina should learn in this is when you're going to make a move like that and move off of a potential superstar - I'd say he's borderline right now," Bissonnette said. "He's looked incredible with McKinnon - Is when you make that move, you have to have that guy locked in."

"If that's not the case, I don't think you need to move off of assets the way that they did, and ultimately, when they move on from Rantanen but they're going to be late first-rounders, and you also have to have a backup plan in place. What are you going to do with those in order to better your team for this year?"

Mikko Rantanen made his Stars debut against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. He recorded a goal and an assist in a 5-4 loss. He had over 40 goals and 100 points in the last two seasons. He is expected to play alongside Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson in Dallas.

Carolina originally acquired Rantanen along with Taylor Hall in a three-team trade with Colorado and Chicago. They gave up Jack Drury, Martin Necas, and multiple draft picks but lost Rantanen without securing a strong return.

Bissonnette questioned Carolina’s aggressive trade approach.

"Like they're to win now mode. They go last year, get gentle. I understand the move this year. I thought it was a little too aggressive, and I think it ended up biting them in the butt." Bissonnette said.

The Hurricanes now need to recover after losing a top player.

Mikko Rantanen is happy to join the Dallas Stars

Mikko Rantanen said his trade experience was unexpected and fast. He told TSN that everything happened quickly.

"It’s been crazy," Rantanen told TSN, via NHL.com,"It was the first time I’ve been traded from Colorado and it happened quick, everything, and all of a sudden you’re on a new team for the first time and then this situation comes with the contract and stuff, so it’s been something that I never thought I would fully experience, but here we are."

Mikko Rantanen has accepted that this is now his reality. Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars are performing well this season, with a 41-20-2 record and 84 points to be second in the Central Division.