Dallas lands Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand goes to Florida in NHL trade deadline deals
There was no shortage of big names changing teams at the annual NHL trade deadline
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The defending Stanley Cup champions and a strong contender in the West pulled out their demolition permits on Friday, with two blockbusters to cap NHL trade deadline day.
After a long night and day of negotiating, the Carolina Hurricanes sent Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars, the second major trade this season involving the star right winger.
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Dallas lands Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand goes to Florida in NHL trade deadline deals Back to video
Then, just before the bell rang, the Boston Bruins moved captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers.
In both cases the principal players will be facing their old clubs in the same division, while the Stars and Rantanen’s original team, the Colorado Avalanche, could meet early in playoffs.
Meanwhile, once Matthew Tkachuk returns from injury in April, the Panthers will have two of the league’s top antagonists on the same club, perhaps the same line.
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Naturally, neither move was cheap. After a deal with Dallas was hung up by insistence from Rantanen camp’s on a lucrative extension — part of the reason Colorado traded the 50-goal, Stanley Cup-winning right winger east in the first place — the two sides reportedly agreed on $96 million US per for eight seasons, with the extra year able to be tacked on as Dallas is his new home. The Stars gave up two first-round picks and centre Logan Stankoven.
They were looking to counter other moves in their conference. The Avs made an overnight acquisition of the New York Islanders centre Brock Nelson, then landed Boston’s Charlie Coyle.
Marchand is a Cup winner, too, but the Bruins have been moving towards an overdue rebuild in recent days. That included sending forward Trent Frederic to Edmonton earlier this week, Justin Brazeau to Minnesota on Thursday, then Coyle and big defenceman Brandon Carlo to the Maple Leafs on Friday. The details of many trades weren’t immediately available.
Teams falling out of the playoffs created a buzz Friday morning with Buffalo moving centre Dylan Cozens and a second rounder next year to the Ottawa Senators for centre Josh Norris and defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker. It was a signal from Senators management they intend to nail down a wild-card spot in the final weeks of the regular season and look to potentially go further.
Later, they had a multi-player swap completed with San Jose, with left winger Fabian Zetterlund going back.
After Nelson went to the Avs late Thursday and with St. Louis Blue Brayden Schenn unwilling to relinquish his no-trade clause, the Leafs turned their focus for a third-line centre to Philadelphia’s Scott Laughton, an Oakville native, who cost them prospect winger Nikita Grebenkin and a conditional first-round pick in 2027.
Carlo’s price reportedly included one of Toronto’s top prospects, centre Fraser Minten.
Secretive Isles GM Lou Lamoriello netted a first-round pick next year for Nelson and a conditional third-rounder in 2028, plus defenceman Oliver Kylington — who was then flipped to the Anaheim Ducks for future considerations — and forward prospect Calum Ritchie for the heart-and-soul Nelson and forward William Dufour.
The first-place Winnipeg Jets were also active Friday, adding defenceman Luke Schenn from Pittsburgh, which had only acquired the defensive defenceman this week, and left winger Brandon Tanev from Seattle. The Jets gave up a second-rounder and a fourth for Schenn, plus a second for Tanev.
As details of the Marchand trade had yet to be revealed, Brazeau netted the playoff-challenged Bruins centre Jakub Lauko, forward Marat Khusnutdinov and a sixth-rounder next year.
The Marchand story was a bit murky. While it seemed outrageous the beloved captain would go the route out of town like Raymond Bourque 20 years ago, there might not have been progress on agreement for a new multi-year deal. Marchand might also re-sign there this summer.
Vancouver sent veteran defender Carson Soucy to the New York Rangers for a third rounder this June, New York moved forward Reilly Smith to Vegas for centre Brendan Brisson and a break-even on retaining a third rounder.
Other moves late Thursday saw slumping Edmonton add defenceman Jake Walman from San Jose for Carl Berglund and a conditional first rounder in 2026.
Florida, trying to bulk up depth to beat out Toronto and Tampa Bay for first place in the Atlantic Division and defend their Stanley Cup, added forward Nico Sturm from the Sharks for a fourth rounder in 2026.
Another playoff outsider trying to get stronger in future is Anaheim, which sent Brian Dumoulin to New Jersey for a second rounder in ‘27 and right winger Herman Traff.
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