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Notebook: Did Mikko Rantanen Force Chris MacFarland’s Hand?

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The hockey world is still in a daze following the late Friday night trade that sent Avalanche superstar Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes.



General manager Chris MacFarland addressed the media early Saturday before a matinee matchup against Boston. The details he shared during that scrum gave us an idea of how things unfolded over the past six or so months.

Rantanen is a fan favorite. MacFarland acknowledged that. He’s a superstar. He’s a homegrown talent still in the prime of his career who has enjoyed all sorts of success with the organization. He’s also earned the right to become an unrestricted free agent. And when push came to shove, Rantanen flashed the UFA card to try to get the contract he felt he deserved — a number the Avs simply couldn’t get to with their internal cap. The rest was history.

Rantanen forced MacFarland’s hand.

“It was a tough few days, but we just felt the timing was right,” MacFarland told media in Boston. “Mikko earned the right to be an unrestricted free agent and he’s five months away from that. So you gotta make these hard decisions. The player has to make them and the club has to make them and that’s what we did.

“Getting two cost-controlled assets was important.”

In the end, this was all about the salary cap and building a roster within those limitations. It’s a business decision and one that MacFarland admitted wasn’t made without a lot of serious thought.

“We’re not deep enough — I think that you gotta be deep to go four rounds,” MacFarland said. “And hopefully this is going to help that.”

Is it an attack on Rantanen’s character to say he forced the hand of the GM? Absolutely not.

Rantanen is a classy pro and this is his time to pounce on a league-altering deal. Negotiations with him have historically been tough dating back to 2019 but that’s his right. Superstars should get paid. He, unfortunately, was the third-best superstar on this team. The potentially historic extension couldn’t happen here with the expectation that the Avs could still put together a deep roster in the coming years.

“It’s definitely a tough part of the business but that’s the job,” MacFarland said. “So you gotta feel like what you’re doing is best for the logo and best for the team short and long term. And you try and marry those things together, and you make the best decision you can.”

The Martin Necas Era Begins

His first game in Boston — without any practice time or morning skates — was pretty solid, all things considered. You can start to see how his speed changes the dynamic of an already dangerous top line. And things got even better against the Rangers. I don’t remember how many posts Necas hit but his first goal will come soon. Two assists is a solid start.

With Necas, you want to be able to utilize him the way you use the other top forwards. There needs to be flexibility to shift him from the first to second line when needed. If he can develop chemistry with Nathan MacKinnon, he’ll be here for the long haul.

At just 26 years old, MacFarland sees him as a big piece moving forward.

“H’s been around the top 10 in scoring this year, but I think it’s his age, is a big part of that,” he said about acquiring the Czech forward. “He fits in with his speed. He’s certainly a top-six talent. Whether he has another bump in his game, with the way we play, we’ll see.”

Jack Drury Isn’t Just a Throw-In

Jack Drury was a player that the team made an effort to ensure was included in the deal. I didn’t quite know exactly where he’d fit at first, but MacFarland’s comments said it all. The Avalanche’s front office sees Drury as a third-line center, and that’s where they hope he’ll fit.

“It’s no secret that this will improve our depth. Jack’s a gritty, competitive guy that I think our coaches will use on the penalty kill,” MacFarland said. “We think there’s another bump in his game offensively as well. And it’s no secret that we’ve not been the best face-off team in the last number of years. And that’s an area where he’ll help us.”

The most telling part of MacFarland’s comments is that it’s becoming more clear that the Ross Colton center experience is over. They don’t want to go back to that. I wonder what that does for Colton’s fit on this team when all is said and done.

Drury already has a goal.

Other Observations

1. MacFarland wouldn’t commit to saying the team is better now than it was before the trade. But he left the door wide open for more moves to come. There’s no reality in my eyes where the Avalanche aren’t still one of the more aggressive teams leading up to the March 7 trade deadline.

2. Gabriel Landeskog is traveling with the team but MacFarland wouldn’t commit to answering any questions about the captain’s progress. Making space for his $7 million cap hit this year and beyond is still something the front office takes into account, even with the rising cap.

3. MacFarland doesn’t believe the locker room is going to let this affect their play. He said this before the back-to-back games. And honestly, I agreed with him as soon as he said it. This group has overcome a lot of change over the past few years and earlier this season. This is by far the biggest loss of them all but it’s a core group that likely understands why this move needed to happen.

Many thanks to Andrew Fantucchio of Boston Hockey Now for relaying the audio of MacFarland’s presser to me.

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