NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun went live on TSN on Thursday to shed some light on what has been a fascinating situation between Mikko Rantanen and the Avalanche management. Colorado’s star forward is still without a contract extension. His current deal expires next summer, and if negotiations were already tough, they certainly didn’t get any easier after Rantanen’s hat trick in the season opener in Vegas.
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“Often superstars of his ilk get signed a year out like we saw with Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton. Like we saw with Rantanen’s teammate Nathan MacKinnon a couple of years ago,” LeBrun said on TSN’s Insider Trading segment. “But in this case, negotiations have yet to produce an extension. And I really don’t think that anything is imminent at this moment. I think there’s a gap here.”
Rantanen is in the final season of a six-year deal which pays him $9.25 million annually. But he’s expected to get a large raise — especially if he commits for eight years, which would take him through the prime of his career.
Draisaitl recently signed an eight-year extension with the Edmonton Oilers that begins in 2025-26. It’ll pay him $14 million per season, giving him the highest AAV in the NHL. His agent, Andy Scott also represents Rantanen.
“Some of the same conversations are happening. The cap is going up. The percentage of the cap,” LeBrun said. “Let’s not forget that MacKinnon at 12.6 million a year may be a bit of an internal cap for Colorado.”
General manager Chris MacFarland touched on Rantanen’s contract negotiations earlier in the week when he met with media at Family Sports. He assured us that he was not concerned about going into the season without an extension.
“These are not easy deals to do. The player obviously has the UFA right and the club has to make smart decisions both for the short term and the long term,” MacFarland said on Tuesday. “We’re not going to comment on it daily or weekly. But I can assure you of one thing. My phone is always on and Mikko’s representation’s phone is always on.”
Rantanen also touched on the lack of an extension when camp opened. His allegiance is with the Avs and he’d like to be here long term. But, “it’ll get done when it’s done.”
How long this stretches is anyone’s guess. I’m not one to believe that Rantanen is moving on. But I do believe his contract may cost more than initially thought — that these negotiations aren’t near the finish line. Will he make more than MacKinnon? I doubt it. But I truly do think he’ll be very close to MacKinnon’s number when all is said and done. But that’s just a prediction on my part.
“This should get done but I will tell you, not everyone knows for sure if it will. It’ll be interesting,” LeBrun said.
