Mikko Rantanen came this close to being part a monster 4-team trade!

Two weeks ago, star forward Mikko Rantanen was shipped by the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes in a trade that stunned pretty much everyone. But what if we tell you that the trade itself could have been more shocking?

That’s what we learned from Elliotte Friedman, who wrote his in latest 32 Thoughts column on Sportsnet, that the Rantanen trade was almost a four-team deal.

The trade was part of a three-team trade involving the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hurricanes also acquired left winger Taylor Hall , the Avalanche got centres Martin Necas and Jack Drury , and the Blackhawks received a third-round pick and retain 50 per cent of Rantanen’s $9.25M cap hit. Colorado also got Carolina’s 2025 second-round pick and 2026 fourth-round pick in the trade.

But Friedman revealed how the Canes attempted to recruit a fourth club in order to shed some of Hall’s salary:

“The Rantanen deal could have been a four-way. The Hurricanes called around to see if anyone else would get involved. I assume that was to eat some of Taylor Hall’s salary.”

Hall is making $6 million this year with free agency looming and it’s understandable that Carolina was hoping to make him more affordable under its cap.

Despite the Rantanen deal “only” coming down to three years, it remains the biggest transaction of the 2024-25 season, with what many pundits and reporters are calling a generational trade.