It hasn't taken long for Carolina Hurricanes fans to warm up to one of their team's newest acquisitions, superstar winger Mikko Rantanen. Having landed the 28-year-old in a blockbuster trade with the Colorado Avalanche,

Mikko Rantanen says he was willing to take a discount to stay with the Avalanche before the Hurricanes trade happened.

According to NHL insider Andy Strickland, the Edmonton Oilers are among the favourites to sign star forward Mikko Rantanen if he leaves the Carolina Hurricanes in free agency.

Will he re-sign in Carolina after this season -- and if not, where else? And what will other contenders do to keep pace ahead of the March 7 deadline?

Chris MacFarland pointed to Rantanen’s pending free agency and the club’s desire to get deeper after three years of being short in that department as reasons for the trade. The NHL’s salary cap ceiling, which is set at $88 million this year but is expected to rise — possibly significantly — in the next couple of seasons is also a factor.

The Mikko Rantanen blockbuster to the Hurricanes is one of the most stunning trades in recent memory, and the reactions are flooding in.

The trade sending Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes is still the talk of the hockey world. Nobody actually thought the 10-year career-long member of the Colorado Avalanche would leave his only NHL home.

Carolina can re-sign Rantanen and maintain a formidable supporting cast around him, which might have been tough for Colorado.

As we creep up on the NHL trade deadline on March 7 more than a few star players are looking to the future for lucrative contract extensions or lest

Choice One: What was Colorado’s limit for Mikko Rantanen? Leon Draisaitl’s $14-million AAV extension and the soon-to-be-rising cap altered the negotiations. (Rantanen is also represented by ...

Mikko Rantanen has been traded to the Hurricanes in recent days. But even though the trade was unexpected, it doesn’t mean he will automatically continue his career in Carolina for the next few years.