Hurricanes roster 'family' despite failed attempts at Rantanen, Marner

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Mikko Rantanen turned down the Carolina Hurricanes. Mitch Marner did, too.

Missing on those two big swings last season might have been discouraging. The Hurricanes kept swinging, though, and connected on a series of moves that were pivotal in helping them reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since they won their first championship 2006.

When Carolina hosts Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights for Game 1 of the best-of-7 series at Lenovo Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, CBC, TVAS), it will have four key players in its lineup connected at least tangentially to the “failed” Rantanen trade -- forwards Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Nikolaj Ehlers and defenseman K'Andre Miller.

“It’s obviously worked out well for us,” Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said during Stanley Cup Final Media Day on Monday. "If ‘Rants’ were still here, I’m sure he’d be helping our team in unbelievable ways, too. He’s not, these guys are here and it’s something (that) they fit in so well here.”

Rantanen is the kind of superstar forward the Hurricanes have been seeking since Tom Dundon took over as their owner in 2018. So, when the Colorado Avalanche were unsure if they were going to be able re-sign him with his potential unrestricted free agency looming at the end of last season, the Hurricanes jumped at the chance to acquire him.

Carolina landed Rantanen and Hall in a blockbuster three-team trade that also involved the Chicago Blackhawks. Colorado received forwards Jack Drury and Martin Necas, along with a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft from Carolina, which acquired Hall and forward prospect Nils Juntorp from Chicago.

Chicago received a third-round pick in the 2025 draft from Carolina and retained 50 percent of Rantanen's $9.25 million salary to help facilitate the trade.

There was some risk involved because Rantanen was on an expiring contract, but it was a gamble the Hurricanes were willing to take.

“Fundamentally, we want to be aggressive, right?” Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said. “(Coach) Rod (Brind’Amour) has the team playing very aggressive on the ice. We want to be aggressive off the ice, too, and when you have a chance to add a really high-end player, we never want to miss out on it.

“We never want to get worried about the what-ifs.”

So, the Hurricanes took their shot and tried to convince Rantanen to sign long term with them while giving him the chance to see if he fit.

“That was the weirdest one I've ever been a part of,” said Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal, a veteran of 20 NHL seasons, including the past 14 with Carolina. “It was a weird time when we were playing. You could tell in our game it was odd and we weren't quite sure what was going on, honestly, until it was all settled.”

Rantanen’s tenure in Carolina lasted 13 games. With him unwilling to sign and the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline approaching on March 7, 2025, the Hurricanes began shopping him. They talked to the Toronto Maple Leafs about Marner, who also was approaching unrestricted free agency at the time. Marner declined to waive the no-trade clause in his contract, though.

Marner, who landed with the Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade deal with the Maple Leafs on July 1, 2025, wasn’t interested Monday in talking about rejecting the trade to the Hurricanes, but he told NHL.com’s Derek van Diest before this season that it was because the timing was “awkward” because his wife was pregnant at the time.

So, the Hurricanes pivoted again and traded Rantanen to the Dallas Stars in the final minutes before the trade deadline. In return, they received Stankoven, a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, a conditional first-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft, a third-round pick in the 2026 draft and a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

Although Rantanen didn’t work out, Staal liked that the Hurricanes weren’t afraid to fail by trading for him.

“I was in Carolina for a long time and we did nothing,” Staal said. “We weren’t taking swings and really just pushing and pushing to try to get better. That was a swing, and it was a miss a little bit, but it was an opportunity that we had.

“You swing and miss on a great player, but you still obviously had some good moves after that.”

Stankoven leads Carolina with nine goals, and also has three assists, in 13 playoff games. And unlike Rantanen, the 23-year-old wanted to stay, signing an eight-year, $48 million contract with Carolina on July 1, 2025.

“I think everything kind of happens for a reason,” Stankoven said. “Dallas kind of got their guy, but super happy just to come in here and I felt like just the way I play and my motor and I’ve being able to fit in well here.”

Hall, who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in 2018, also fit in well and signed a three-year, $9.5 million contract on April 30, 2025. The 34-year-old has been rejuvenated playing on a line with Stankoven and 22-year-old Jackson Blake, leading the Hurricanes with 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) with 13 playoff games.

The Hurricanes also used the conditional 2026 first-round pick they received from the Stars for Rantanen in a trade package to acquire Miller from the New York Rangers and signed Miller to an eight-year, $60 million contract on July 1, 2025. Carolina still had salary cap space remaining after that to sign Ehlers to a six-year, $51 million contract as an unrestricted free agent on July 3, 2025.

Miller has strengthened the Hurricanes defense playing alongside Sean Walker on their second defense pair. The 26-year-old leads them by averaging 23:55 in ice time and is third on the team with eight assists in 13 playoff games.

Ehlers has added a new element to Carolina’s offense with his game-changing speed and skill and the 30-year-old has nine points (four goals, five assists) in 12 playoff games. Tulsky said, “It’s hard to know,” if the Hurricanes could’ve signed Ehlers if Rantanen had re-signed, partly because they might not have had the salary cap space.

That wasn’t a concern, though, because Rantanen didn’t want to stay. Instead, the Hurricanes found four who did.

“The players we brought in, every single one of them got here and did feel like this was where they wanted to be,” Tulsky said. “K’Andre signed with us before he even got here because he knew the other two (Hall and Stankoven) got here and tried it out for a little bit and were ready to sign.

“We have a lot of people come in and feel like this is home to them, and we're always happy to have them signed up long term and stay part of the family.”