Deen’s Daily: Avalanche Go All-In; The Condor Returns; Dallas Officially Gets Rantanen — Deadline Recap

The Avs went all-in around the trade deadline. Who were their latest big additions? Also, a former champion returns home. Speaking of former champions, it took six weeks for Mikko Rantanen to sign a contract after getting traded. It’s just not with the team the Avs traded him to.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — March 8.

Colorado Hockey Now

After acquiring Brock Nelson on Thursday, the Avs made another big move for more center depth on deadline day. They traded Casey Mittelstadt to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Charlie Coyle. There were other parts of the deal, which locks in another center with the Avs through the 2025-26 season.

Moments later, it was announced that Colorado was bringing one if its champions home. Long-time Avs defenseman and fan favorite Erik Johnson — the one they call The Condor — was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers.

I’ll have a lot of reactions from the locker room in the coming days. But to get you started on what these deals mean, Colleen Flynn caught up with Devon Toews after Friday’s practice to discuss two of his old friends again becoming teammates. If you recall, Toews and Nelson were teammates on Long Island.

This one is behind the CHN+ paywall, but you can get 25% off an annual subscription by using promo code Deen10.

Rinkside with Aarif Deen Podcast

I’ve got three new episodes to share, one on each of Colorado’s trades in the hours leading up to Friday’s deadline.

No. 2 Center Brock Nelson | March 7, 2025

Charlie Coyle In, Casey Mittelstadt Out | March 7, 2025

Erik Johnson — The Condor Returns Home | March 7, 2025

Around The NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins were busy being sellers on Friday. First, trading Anthony Beauvillier to Washington, Then, Kyle Dubas changed his tune and traded Luke Schenn to Winnipeg. The Pens then shipped Cody Glass to New Jersey. To  cap off the day, they acquired another defenseman from Toronto, who Dubas is familiar with.

Montreal Hockey Now: Habs general manager Kent Hughes discussed his trade deadline strategy, which included zero trades.

Philadelphia Hockey Now: The Flyers didn’t trade Rasmus Ristolainen after all. But they did offload three others. Andre Kuzmenko to Los Angeles, Scott Laughton to Toronto, and of course, EJ to Colorado.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils didn’t get Brayden Schenn or Ryan O’Reilly. They didn’t acquire a big-name center. But they did trade for a depth forward from Seattle and signed Johnathan Kovacevic to a long-term extension. What does that mean for Simon Nemec’s future?

GM Tom Fitzgerald discussed the outcome of the deadline, saying his team kept coming in second with offers.

Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings traded depth forward Joe Veleno to bring back a goalie who has played for them in the past.

San Jose Hockey Now: The Sharks dealt Nico Sturm and Jake Walman while in Denver on Thursday. They then traded Luke Kunin to Columbus and, in a surprise move, sent Fabian Zetterlund to Ottawa.

Boston Hockey Now: The Bruins threw in the towel on their season. They sent Coyle to Colorado, before trading Brandon Carlo and Brad Marchand to division rivals.

Florida Hockey Now: It’s truly going to be bizarre to see Marchand with the Panthers.

Ottawa Hockey Now: Get to know Zetterlund, who shores up a top-six that also shook up another core piece.

Chicago Hockey Now: The Blackhawks didn’t trade Ryan Donato after all, but they did set themselves up for a huge summer.