The Colorado Avalanche has traded Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes, according to multiple reports. Rantanen is in the final year of his contract and can be an unrestricted free agent in July. He leads the Avs with 25 goals and has 64 points, which was sixth in the NHL entering Friday night’s games.

Rantanen admitted he spent a lot of time staring at the ceiling Friday night. The goal celebrations with the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are no more. The bonds he made are likely unbreakable, but now it’s time to make new ones in his new home.

Rantanen can become an unrestricted free agent July 1. He was available because the Avalanche couldn’t sign him to a long-term contract. Tulsky said the Hurricanes wanted to acquire Rantanen as long as possible before the NHL Trade Deadline on March 7 and have had only preliminary discussions with his camp.

The trade is a stunning midseason swap of point-per-game players in their primes, an anomaly in the NHL trade market in the salary-cap era.

Who won Friday night's blockbuster that saw Mikko Rantanen go from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes?

Here are our Mikko Rantanen trade grades for the Blackhawks, Avalanche, and Hurricanes after Friday's stunning deal.

Rantanen produced an assist and four shots on goal in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Jets.

In a blockbuster NHL trade, the Colorado Avalanche have sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Martin Necas. Taylor Hall will also be going from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Hurricanes as part of the three-way deal.

The surprising trade that saw the Colorado Avalanche trade star winger Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes has been met with shock and some level of despair within the Avs’ locker room. Rantanen has twice broken the 100-point mark during his 10 seasons in Colorado,

Makar's combination of skating and vision were on display when he scored his 100th career goal on a power play Saturday in a 6-3 victory over Dallas. Makar was up top and moved the puck around the ice before receiving it back from Nathan MacKinnon. That set up Makar to unleash a rising wrist shot that beat Dallas goaltender Casey DeSmith.

With 101 career goals and 287 assists, Makar is averaging 1.07 points a game. Should he keep up that pace, it would rank up there with the likes of Bobby Orr (1.39) and Paul Coffey (1.09) for the highest marks over a career by a defenseman in NHL history.