"What about Hughes?" "What about Crosby?" - NHL fans react to Mikko Rantanen injury update ahead of 4 Nations

After a brief injury scare, Carolina Hurricanes star Mikko Rantanen is expected to play for Team Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off. His status was unknown after missing Saturday's 7-3 win over the Utah Hockey Club because of a lower-body injury.

Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Sunday that Rantanen is on his way to Montreal with the plan to represent his country in the tournament.

Fans reacted to the news on X (formerly Twitter).

"What about Hughes?" one fan wrote.

"Who cares. What about Crosby?" another fan wrote.

"Seeing the Mikko Barkov Aho line is gonna be crazy," one wrote.

Canadiens fans got excited after reading the first sentence of Friedman's post on X stating that Rantanen was en route to Montreal.

"Got way too happy when i read the first 7 words...," wrote one fan.

"After reading the first few words I thought he was headed to the Habs," added another fan.

"Every habs fan heart skipped a beat all at once," added one more fan.

Rantanen was traded on Jan. 24, sending him from Colorado to Carolina in exchange for Martin Necas, Jack Drury and draft picks. He remains a pending UFA in the final season of a six-year, $55,500,000 contract signed in 2019.

Mikko Rantanen missed Saturday's game against Utah

Mikko Rantanen was surprisingly unavailable during the Hurricanes' 7-3 win on Saturday afternoon over the Utah Hockey Club. Rantanen was dealing with a lower-body injury stemming from a Brent Burns shot he took off the leg during Thursday night's 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

He has had a slow start to his tenure in Carolina, producing just two points (one goal, one assist) through six games. He had racked up 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in his first 49 games with the Colorado Avalanche. He will look to build more chemistry with his new Canes teammate and fellow Finn Sebastian Aho in the upcoming 4 Nations.

Rantanen and Team Finland will begin their round-robin play in the 4 Nations Face-Off on Thursday night against Team USA. The puck drops at 8 p.m. ET at Bell Centre in Montreal.