The general manager of the Colorado Avalanche wants fans and the NHL to know that his club remains strong, after dealing away Mikko Rantanen. The Avalanche dealt Rantanen on Friday to Carolina, as part of a three-team trade that also involved Chicago.
Colorado got some pieces in return, including former Hurricanes Jack Drury and Martin Necas. The Avalanche also acquired two upcoming NHL Draft picks, in the second and fourth rounds.
“We’re all-in,” Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said, per The Athletic. “Mikko obviously is a horse. He does things differently than Marty. Marty is going to put up points, and we have more cap space now. We’ll continue to try and put that to use.”
It will be a tough sell to convince Avalanche fans this was the right move. Rantanen was in many ways the face of the franchise, helping the club win a Stanley Cup in 2022. Rantanen also posted 287 career goals, all in Colorado. Rumors flew he wanted to keep working on a way to stay with the Avalanche.
The Avalanche are 28-20-2 this season. Colorado is in fourth place in the Western Conference’s Central Division.
The Avalanche must move forward
Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin (91) moves the puck past Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski (70) during the second period at the American Airlines Center Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Colorado clearly had a star in Rantanen, and now the club must look for a new star. With the forward gone, Drury and Necas must pick up some of that slack offensively.
Another player the Avalanche will have to rely on is Nathan MacKinnon, who admitted he was surprised by the trade. MacKinnon leads the club in points this season with 75. Necas is actually second on the team, despite just joining from the Hurricanes.
Avalanche GM MacFarland understands there may be some growing pains, as Rantanen was special.
“You lose a superstar and we’re going to have to try and replace him in the aggregate — 50-goal scorers don’t grow on trees,” MacFarland said, per ABC 11 News. “You have to usually draft and develop them. Mikko was a home run for us for many, many years.”
MacFarland is assuring Avalanche fans that the team didn’t just impulsively make the move. He’s asking for fans to have some faith in the franchise’s leadership.
“We decided to act yesterday, but it wasn’t without a lot of serious thought, I can assure you of that,” he added on Saturday, per NHL.com.
Colorado next plays Sunday against the New York Rangers. The puck drops at 1:00 ET. Avalanche fans are clearly hoping the new guys can help lead the team to victory.
This article first appeared on NHL on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.
