Deen’s Daily: Bad Avalanche Loss; Rantanen’s Future Undecided; Subban Rips Penguins

The Avs stumbled out of the gate following the two-week break. Pittsburgh got roasted by P.K. Subban and they deserved it. Also, Mikko Rantanen was offered a massive extension by Carolina.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — February 23.

Colorado Hockey Now

The Avalanche played their first game in two weeks and looked as inconsistent as they did earlier in the month. You truly never know what team you’re going to get on any given night.

Against a bad Predators team, Colorado only mustered one goal and lost 2-1. Here’s the game story for the disappointing loss. We’ll see if they can bounce back tonight against the St. Louis Blues.

Catch the Latest episode of my podcast, Rinkside with Aarif Deen — Bad Avalanche Loss | February 22, 2025.

Around the NHL

Rantanen Update: Elliotte Friedman opened his Saturday Night headlines segment with an update on Rantanen. He said the Hurricanes made an offer above $100 million but Rantanen has not yet decided if he’d like to sign there long-term.

The former Avs star wants more time to process all the sudden changes before locking in a new contract. And with that, he informed the Hurricanes that it’s not yes and not no. He just needs time.

Again, this is something to keep an eye on heading into the March 7 trade deadline.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: While we’re on the subject of bad losses, I don’t think it gets worse than the Penguins falling 8-3 to rival Washington Capitals. You have to feel for Sidney Crosby, coming home to this after an exciting 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.

P.K. Subban unleashed on Pens management following a five-goal second-period outburst for the Caps.

Montreal Hockey Now: Impressive showing for the Habs in a game against Ottawa. Juraj Slafkovsky came out swinging (literally).

Philadelphia Hockey Now: Like Nathan MacKinnon and Crosby, Connor McDavid also lost two days after winning it all for Team Canada. Five Thoughts from the Flyer’s big win over Edmonton.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils lost to Dallas, but Jack Hughes looked a lot better than he did for Team USA.

Detroit Hockey Now: What would’ve been an outstanding start to the final push for the playoffs ended with a lost point in the standings for the Red Wings.

San Jose Hockey Now: An update on the injury to Yaroslav Askarov, which he suffered in the AHL during the break.

Florida Hockey Now: In a common theme around the NHL, several of the big names who played for Canada lost in their first game back. Add Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett to that list.