Huge sign of disrespect towards Mikko Rantanen from the Avalanche!

The trade shocked everyone on Friday night when star forward Mikko Rantanen was shipped by the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes. You’ve seen it in the past few days: Rantanen was stunned, Nathan MacKinnon was heartbroken and Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said that it was a tough business decision, but the right timing.

However, reports have emerged that Rantanen wasn’t even aware that a trade was a possibility as insider Andy Strickland revealed:

“Mikko Rantanen was completely caught off guard by the trade and was very upset. Colorado showed very little to no interest in attempting to re-sign him over the last several months. This was a panic move by Colorado.”

What a huge sign of disrespect to Rantanen, not even kicking off discussions on a potential contract extension. While Rantanen earned the right to be an unrestricted free agent, he should have had the right to a conversation about what it meant for the team’s future.

Rantanen was reportedly seeking an annual average value in the range of $14 million on his next contract. The Avalanche currently have MacKinnon signed and worth $12.6 million per season, and star defenseman Cale Makar has only two years left on his deal. Rantanen has been one of the league’s top producers since the Avalanche drafted him 10th overall in 2015 and it just feels like Colorado got scared and trade him before even trying…

Rantanen even revealed how much he was looking to stay in Denver when he told Peter Baugh:

“I was willing to take a significant discount from my market value,” Rantanen said Monday. “We had some chats a couple days before and then they traded me. … That’s why I didn’t expect it.”

I get that hockey is a business, but that transaction that caught Rantanen blindside is just a tough slap in the face.