Less 'constrained' Hurricanes hope Rantanen agrees to extension - ESPN

Carolina Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky said his team has the desire and the financial flexibility to give newly acquired star winger Mikko Rantanen the massive new contract he's seeking ahead of unrestricted free agency this offseason.

That is, if he wants to remain with the Hurricanes.

Carolina stunned the NHL on Friday night by acquiring Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche in a three-way deal that also saw them pick up Chicago Blackhawks winger Taylor Hall. Rantanen is sixth in the NHL this season with 64 points in 49 games, including 25 goals. Since the 2021-22 season, he is fifth among NHL players with 365 points in 286 games, including back-to-back 100-point seasons.

But the 28-year-old is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and his contract demands created a significant impasse with the Avalanche, with whom he has played for 10 seasons. The Hurricanes are hoping they can meet Rantanen's asking price and convince him to commit to the franchise long term.

«At this point it's more of a recruiting pitch than a negotiation in my mind,» said Tulsky on Saturday.

Carolina has been a playoff team in all six seasons of Rod Brind'Amour's head coaching tenure, including two trips to the Eastern Conference Final. The team boasts a few players from Rantanen's native Finland, including friend and star center Sebastian Aho. Tulsky hopes the franchise's virtues — and a contract to his liking — will be enough to retain him.

"[Rantanen] is an incredible player. If he gets to free agency, I'm sure there will be teams that will pay him a lot of money, and so our job in the next weeks and months is to make it so he wants to be here," he said. «He has the right as a free agent to decide where to sign and it may not come down to the