Carolina took a swing for the fences by acquiring high-scoring forward Mikko Rantanen from the Avalanche and 2018 NHL MVP Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks in a three-way trade. Colorado will receive Carolina’s leading scorer, forward Martin Necas, as well as bottom-six center Jack Drury, a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in 2026, all from Carolina. To balance the salary cap numbers, Carolina is sending a third-round pick in 2025 to Chicago in exchange for Hall and the Blackhawks retaining 50 percent of what’s left on Rantanen’s $9.25 million cap hit.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL‼️

Details » https://t.co/CI5CL23V8M pic.twitter.com/9WRKWRt2Aw

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) January 25, 2025

It’s a bold move for Carolina, which enters its game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday second in the Metro at 30-16-3, eight points behind the division-leading Washington Capitals and three in front of the third-place New Jersey Devils. The ’Canes are 10 points ahead of the fourth-place Columbus Blue Jackets, who hold the second wild card in the Eastern Conference and 11 ahead of the Rangers.

However, while the Hurricanes are on track for their seventh straight trip to the playoffs and their fourth consecutive season with more than 100 points, they haven’t reached the Stanley Cup Final since winning their only NHL championship in 2006. Carolina has made the Eastern Conference Final twice in the past six seasons but was swept by the Boston Bruins in 2019 and the Florida Panthers in 2023. The Rangers eliminated the Hurricanes in the second round in 2022 and 2024.

It’s the second straight season that the Hurricanes have opted to add a big-name forward who can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer; they brought in Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins last year. Although Guentzel played well, the Hurricanes lost to the Rangers in the second round — and Guentzel opted to sign as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Lightning this past offseason.

Related: Controversial former Rangers defenseman signs with rival Islanders

Rangers division rival roll dice by trading for Mikko Rantanen, Taylor Hall

Rantanen, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, leads the Avalanche with 25 goals and was sixth in the NHL entering Friday with 64 points. The first-round pick (No. 10 overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft has been a big piece of Colorado’s core for the past several years. He set a career high with 55 goals and 105 points two seasons ago and has had back-to-back 100-point seasons. Rantanen has eight goals and 12 points in 14 career games against the Rangers.

The 28-year-old was part of Colorado’s Stanley Cup-winning team in 2022 and has been part of Colorado’s “Big Three” for the past four seasons alongside center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar. Rantanen is sixth in Avs/Quebec Nordiques history with 287 goals and seventh with 681 points. His 55 goals in 2022-23 are tied for third in franchise history and is the most by any player since the club moved to Colorado for the 1995-96 season.

“Mikko is one of the premier power forwards in our sport,” Carolina general manager Eric Tulsky said. “It’s no secret that we’ve wanted to add elite skill to our lineup, and this is a player who should fit our system and locker room well. And Taylor gives us another high-skill option to bolster our attack.”

Rantanen figures to play on the right side of a line with center Sebastian Aho. They will also be teammates on Team Finland at the 4 Nations Face-off next month.

Welcome to Raleighwood, Taylor Hall 🚨 pic.twitter.com/gYVulvXNFi

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) January 25, 2025

Hall, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft by the Edmonton Oilers, won the Hart Trophy with the Devils in 2017-18 but hasn’t come close to that level of play since. He had 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 46 games with Chicago this season. Carolina will be the seventh different team Hall has played for; he hasn’t had more than 20 goals or 61 points in any season since winning the Hart seven years ago.

Trade alert. pic.twitter.com/7AX82rf9Np

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 25, 2025

The Hurricanes took Necas in the first round (No. 12) of the 2017 draft. He set career highs in goals (28) and points (71) in 2022-23. While Necas and Rantanen are similar in size and position, he is faster and less physical.

Necas has one goal and eight points in 17 career games against the Rangers.

Drury, the nephew of Rangers general manager Chris Drury and a New York native, turns 25 next month. He has three goals and nine points in 39 games this season while averaging 12:53 of ice time. The 5-foot-11 center was a second-round pick in 2018, and he’s in the first season of a two-year contract that carries a $1.725 million cap hit.

This represents an important game and an intriguing time for the Rangers for multiple reasons.

First is to see how the Rangers rebound after blowing a late one-goal lead in the third period before losing in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. It was just last week that the Rangers bounced back nicely from a pair of blown leads and another OT defeat at the hands of the Dallas Stars. So, let’s see if they follow suit in this case.

Second is trying to put on a bow on their three-game road trip. A win Thursday, and the Rangers grab five of six points (2-0-1). Pretty darn good. A regulation loss cuts into their recent mojo and leaves them heading back to New York with just three points (1-1-1). Believe it or not, that’s a big difference.

Third, well there’s a point streak to consider. They’re 3-0-2 in the past five games, a solid building block after a terrible two-month stretch of hockey. They desperately need points, and the past two weeks have been getting points on a nightly basis.

Finally, this is the start of a crucial five-game stretch against mediocre opponents. Now keep in mind that the Rangers (20-20-3) are mediocre, too. So, there are no givens here. But these next five games — against Utah, Columbus, Montreal, Ottawa and Philadelphia — represent a huge opportunity for the Rangers to gain ground and could define their season.

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New York Rangers news

Breaking down the positives and negatives from the Rangers’ overtime loss in Denver on Tuesday.

Braden Schneider believes there were “plenty of positives” for the Rangers to carry forward from their loss to the Avalanche.

Our John Kreiser took the opposite side, and wrote about how damaging it is for the Rangers to cough up standings points with a pair of bitter OT losses.

Remember Vitali Kravtsov? Well, the former Rangers first-round pick has finally found his footing as a pro — in the KHL.

Which players deserve to be on the Rangers quarter century team? Here’s my breakdown.

NHL news

The Pittsburgh Penguins placed their No. 1 goalie, Tristan Jarry, on waivers. Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas says if he clears, Jarry will be sent to Wilkes Barre-Scranton in the American Hockey League. Quite a fall from grace for the two-time NHL All-Star. Colleague Dan Kingerski expertly breaks it all down at Pittsburgh Hockey Now.

Team president Cam Neely said Wednesday that the Boston Bruins “may be retooling a bit” before the NHL trade deadline March 7, as opposed to being heavy buyers. The Bruins are 3-6-1 in their past 10 games and own the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Speaking of trades, rumors and the upcoming deadline, Chicago Blackhawks forward Taylor Hall said he’s “ready for anything” as a pending UFA, and seems resigned to being traded.

The Winnipeg Jets acquired defenseman Isaak Phillips from the Blackhawks for minor league defenseman Dmitry Kuzmin.

John Tavares exited Toronto Maple Leafs practice early on Wednesday after getting tangled up with defenseman Chris Tanev. He’s been placed on injured reserve, meaning he will miss at least a week although the consensus seems to be he’ll be out longer than that.

Sheldon Keefe returns to Toronto on Thursday for the first time since he was fired as Maple Leafs coach and subsequently took over behind the New Jersey Devils bench. “I’m excited for it,” Keefe said Wednesday.

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-3 and Connor McDavid passed Jari Kurri for second on the Oilers all-time scoring list with 1,044 points. McDavid trails only Wayne Gretzky, who had 1,669 points with the Oilers before he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings.

The Buffalo Sabres skated to a 4-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes, though remain last in the Eastern Conference with 39 points.

Watch Ryan McLeod record his first NHL hat trick in the Sabres win.

It was the first NHL win for interim coach Anders Sorensen, who replaced the fired Luke Richardson last week.

The Rangers (14-12-1) have lost two straight and eight of their past 10 games (2-8-0). They are 9-12-0 since beginning the season on a six-game point streak (5-0-1).

Igor Shesterkin was solid and finished with 30 saves, but has lost six of his past seven starts. Will Cuylle scored New York’s only goal against Chicago goalie Arvid Soderblom, who made 28 saves in place of Petr Mrazek, who was placed on IR this weekend with a groin injury.

Taylor Hall scored his sixth goal for the Blackhawks and added an assist. Tyler Bertuzzi also scored for the Blackhawks, and reigning Calder Trophy winner Connor Bedard had an assist.

After a strong start, the Rangers were outhustled and outplayed by a seemingly inferior opponent. It was an ugly loss, and boos rained down from the fans inside The Garden.

“It’s frustrating. I get it. Deservedly so,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said postgame. “When your pace should be at a higher level and your execution should be at a higher level, I get it. It’s frustration.”

Related: Igor Shesterkin ‘so happy right now’ after birth of daughter, massive contract extension

Chicago Blackhawks 2 – New York Rangers 1

Though they played a strong first period, the Rangers still surrendered the first goal. It was the 14th time in 27 games this season the Rangers fell behind 1-0.

A soft wraparound behind his own net by Mika Zibanejad was easily picked off by Hall, who came out from behind the goal line and sent a pass to the right circle, where Bertuzzi zipped his sixth goal into the back of the cage to put Chicago up at 8:10.

It appeared that lead would hold up to the first intermission, but the Rangers scored their third short-handed goal of the season with less than a minute remaining in the period to tie the score 1-1. Cuylle collected his first shortie in the NHL — and 10th goal of the season — when he buried a rebound after Sam Carrick charged to the net at 19:17.

Sam charges up ice.

Cools buries the shorty.

YOU JUST LOVE TO SEE IT. pic.twitter.com/BXtplTRms3

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 10, 2024

The Rangers deserved the tie through 20 minutes after outchancing the Blackhawks 12-3, including 4-0 in high-danger opportunities.

Chicago, though, regained the lead at 6:16 of the second period. This time, K’Andre Miller turned the puck over in the offensive zone and Chicago’s Jason Dickinson fired an outlet pass to Bedard at center ice to create a 2-on-1 rush the other way. Bedard fed Hall on left wing, and as the forward drove to the net and Shetserkin challenged him, the puck slid off his stick blade, but hit Shesterkin’s stick and redirected over the goal line to make it 2-1.

Connor Bedard ➡️ Taylor Hall pic.twitter.com/31e1qJ9gl1

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 10, 2024

Despite that bit of misfortune, Shesterkin was sharp in the second period, making 12 saves. His best save was an alert reaction after a Blackhawks centering feed near the goal line deflected off Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren in front; Shesterkin stretched his left leg as far as possible to get his skate on the puck by the post.

Chicago reversed the pace in the second period, outchancing the Rangers 12-6, which included an 8-1 advantage in high-danger chances. The Rangers were limited to a woeful xGF of 0.26 in the middle frame, per Natural Stat Trick.

As such, the Rangers were lucky to be down only 2-1 heading into the third period, even though Artemi Panarin wired a right-wing shot off the post in the second.

The Blackhawks owned the territorial advantage in the third period, and the Rangers mustered little offense. That is until Miller was sent a pass as the trailer in the offensive zone and snapped a quick shot that Soderblom swallowed up at 14:32.

Chicago came close to taking a two-goal lead a minute later, but Shesterkin made a huge right-pad save to snuff Ryan Donato’s breakaway attempt.

In the final minute, after the Rangers pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker, Zibanejad shot wide twice from his preferred spot in the left circle. Then in the final seconds, Chris Kreider ripped a shot from between the circles that Soderblom denied with his left pad. And that was it.

In a game they absolutely couldn’t lose, the Rangers did. And now it’s on to Buffalo for a tilt against the struggling Sabres on Wednesday — Buffalo is 0-5-2 in its past seven games after blowing a 5-3 lead in the third period Monday night and losing 6-5 to the Detroit Red Wings in a shootout.

“The only answers are going to come from that room,” Laviolette said. “We’ve got to be better than we were tonight.”

Di Giuseppe with Mika and Buch

Phil Di Giuseppe has earned a shot to fill in Kreider’s role due to his comparative size, speed, and playing style. While he isn’t expected to score like Kreider, he will need to be a physical presence in the corners and in front.

“I love his pace. He plays a lot like [Jesper] Fast. He’s got that hardworking mentality. He gets to the net. He plays at a pace and he can create room for Buchy and Mika,” Quinn said. “We’ll start it that way [Tuesday] and see how it goes.

NYPOST

Taylor Hall UFA Target

For those who want a jump on Free Agent Frenzy, here’s a post I wrote today.

Hall who can play center and left wing, would be most beneficial to the Rangers in the middle. He turns 29 next November and will command a full 7 years. However, his desire to play for a contender in a big city could play to the Rangers advantage. Does that mean a little less money? Will he not demand a full no trade? Remember the Rangers can front load any deal to entice a player of Hall’s caliber.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Notes vs. Blues

• All-Time: 81-45-16-2 (48-14-6-1 at home; 33-31-10-1 on the road)
• Today’s game is the second of two meetings between the Rangers and Blues, and the only meeting between the two teams at MSG. The Rangers have posted a 0-1-0 record (0-0-0 at home; 0-1-0 on the road), following the Blues’ 5-2 win on Jan. 11 at St. Louis.
• Alexandar Georgiev – 2 GP, 1-0-1, 2.97 GAA, .924 SV% – Georgiev made 44 saves and earned a win in his last appearance against the Blues on Mar. 29, 2019 at MSG.
• Artemi Panarin – 15 GP, 4-12-16 – Panarin has tallied an assist/point in each of his last three games against St. Louis (six assists over the span), and he has posted a multi-assist/point game in two of the three contests. He has recorded an assist/point in seven of his last nine games against the Blues, tallying 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) over the span.
• Mika Zibanejad – 12 GP, 5-7-12 – Zibanejad has tallied a point in six of the last eight games (four goals, four assists) and in nine of 12 career games against the Blues. He has also tallied three goals in the last five games and four goals in the last seven games against the Blues.

Notes courtesy of NYR PR Dept

Business at Home

Heading into the offseason the Rangers have a lot of work to do, primarily dealing with their RFA’s. This summer they need to make decisions on Alexandar Georgiev, Tony DeAngelo, Ryan Strome, and Brendan Lemieux. They will have about $15M to take care of that, and it drops to $14M if you add Vitali Kravtsov and a young d-man making about 800-925K. Simply put, not enough.

Hard decisions will need to be made, starting with Henrik Lundqvist. Should he retire that would give the Rangers 8.5 back to the cap and increase the number to 22.5M. Then the clearing would need to continue if they want to keep Strome here or just flat out replace him with Hall.

A buyout of Brendan Smith would be your next likely scenario and that gives them another 1.5M this season. The unlikely buyout of Marc Staal is 2.1M, but maybe asking him to waive and then trade with a 50% retain, makes it 2.6M. If the Rangers were to have Hank retire, buyout Smith, and trade Staal that means cap space of almost 26M, and the flexibility to sign all their RFA’s and go after the big fish.

What Taylor Hall Brings

Hall who can play center and left wing, would be most beneficial to the Rangers in the middle. He turns 29 next November and will command a full 7 years. However, his desire to play for a contender in a big city could play to the Rangers advantage. Does that mean a little less money? Will he not demand a full no trade? Remember the Rangers can front load any deal to entice a player of Hall’s caliber.

Offensively he has struggled this season with just 50 points in 62 games playing in NJ and Arizona. Hard to get excited going from the swamp to the desert after playing so many years in the frozen tundra of Edmonton. Still this a player barely two seasons removed from winning the Hart trophy with 93 points. He has the size and skill that are hard to come by in this league, and would instantly take this Rangers team into serious contention territory.

Improbable but not Impossible

When it comes to the likelihood of this happening one has to admit that it is improbable. At the same time, it doesn’t mean it isn’t impossible. I recall the same things were being said when Kevin Shattenkirk hit the UFA market. Many will recall that Artemi Panarin was headed to Florida for sure, or maybe even the Islanders but the Rangers? Nope said many insiders. The Rangers were also hard pressed for cap money last summer too but they made it work, why not figure it out again this summer? I’ve laid out how, now it is just a matter of where the team feels they are going forward.

Islanders Head Home

It is now official, the New York Islanders will play this season’s playoffs and all of next season at the Old Barn. It look’s like the days of the offside scoreboard in Brooklyn have ended.

Two Big UFA D-Men

Alex Pietrangelo (STL) and Torey Krug (BOS) were not traded at the deadline which is always a risk that they can walk away for nothing. Should their respective teams fail to sign them by the draft, expect their rights to be moved for picks.

LeBrun expects whatever offers Pietrangelo and Krug receive from their respective teams will be less than what they can get on the open market on July 1. He thinks the Blues could offer Pietrangelo something comparable to the eight-year, $64-million contract John Carlson signed with the Washington Capitals. The Bruins, meanwhile, could be reluctant to pay Krug more than teammates David Pastrnak ($6.6 million AAV) and Patrice Bergeron ($6.875 million).

Spector’s Hockey

Top 3 UFA’s

We will be talking about Free Agency a lot going forward as well as the draft. Here are 3 UFA’s that will be the prizes of the summer:

• Taylor Hall – this C/LW will be the top prize of Free Agent Frenzy if he gets there. During the trade deadline Pierre Lebrun mentioned that the Coyotes were working hard on a new deal and it is likely to get done. Well, until it is signed he will be at the top of the list. Now who can afford the expected $10-11M price tag?
• Tyson Barrie – His name popped up late during the trade deadline and it looks like Toronto is going to move on from what could be an $8M asking price. Defensive issues aside he can score 50 points with his eyes closed. Right-handed defensemen are always at a premium.
• Mike Hoffman – is an interesting forward who has a bit of a bad reputation (fair or unfair) dating back to his time in Ottawa. The guy can score goals and I assure you someone will give up a decent pick to get his rights early to negotiate for their goal starved club. I can totally see the Islanders in on Hoffman.

Top UFA’s 2020

Here’s a list of the Top 25 per Cap Friendly:

The list will change if anyone is extended before 7/1. There are some really big names on here and none bigger than Taylor Hall. His name popped back up at the trade deadline, but Pierre Lebrun squashed it saying the team is working towards an extension. Still, should that not happen in time and he hits the open market…well, all bets are off.

Trading Taylor Hall again?

Let’s make it quick because this rumor has surfaced since Hall is still set to be a UFA this summer. Last night, Pierre Lebrun basically laughed it off on TSN’s Insider Trading stating that both sides recently had dinner in Montreal and they should get something done this summer.

Lightning and Bruins Looking For Jumbo Joe

According to Frank Seravalli, the Lightning and Bruins have talked about adding Joe Thornton…if he decides to waive his clause and be traded.

Canes Looking for D

Last night on Insider Trading they also noted Carolina will trade one of their 2 first rounders for a defenseman with term. Could Minnesota trade Matt Dumba or Jonas Brodin tomCarolina? While a first round pick is a start, Canes better be ready to offer more.

The disastrous season in NJ is about to get worse as their top player wants out. Taylor Hall was a healthy scratch last night and the rumor mill is buzzing with news that he is close to being dealt.

Hall Rumors

Late last night, Bob McKenzie sent out a series of tweets, but in one particular tweet he believes Arizona is the likely destination.

Hall a Rental

The 28 year old is set to be a UFA this summer and will be looking for a max 7 year deal, likely around 9M per. Injuries cut his season short last season, but in his first year in NJ he put up 93 points. Any team interested in Hall will be unwilling to give NJ a huge package because of this. Now unless he agrees to an extension before the deal, NJ won’t be getting more than say a 1st, a prospect, and mid tier player. Expect conditions in any trade.

Could the Rangers be one of those teams?

Never say never, but it could happen. The Devils GM is going to make the best deal possible but sending him to the Rangers would upset fans, especially if the return is marginal.

Of course, in a rental perspective the Rangers could offer some players that will address their needs. Imagine a package of Alex Georgiev, Lias Andersson, and a conditional pick? Interesting for sure, but unlikely.

Again…never say never.

Latest buzz around the rumor mill.

Puljujarvi Almost A Ranger

Jess Puljujarvi’s link to the Rangers goes back to the preseason. As I stated on this site previously, there was some link involving Lias Andersson in a deal. However, Ken Holland was also looking for a first rounder and the deal certainly died there. The deadline to sign him is tomorrow, so I doubt a trade happens.

Taylor Hall Good as Gone

This is another one that has been brewing even longer. Taylor Hall wants to go to a Stanley Cup contender, he’s not interested in rebuilding anymore.