The Edmonton Oilers didn’t take a swing on deadline day, but they tried to. Reports indicated they tried to acquire Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes before he was surprisingly traded to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third-round picks. Rantanen, who was a pending unrestricted free agent, was shockingly traded to the Hurricanes earlier in the season from the Colorado Avalanche. The Stars have now locked Rantanen up on an eight-year extension worth $12 million annually, but it seems as though he had interest in joining the Oilers. Reports indicate the Oilers and Rantanen were well down the line of discussing an extension if a trade could be agreed to, but nothing came to fruition.
Oilers took a huge swing yesterday. Sources say Rantanen had interest in coming to Edmonton and things were well down the path of an extension being agreed to – $ were north of what Dallas signed him for. In the end, the trade assets weren’t there to get it done. Also sounds…
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) March 8, 2025
Rantanen, who is 28 years old, has two goals and one assist for three points in two games since being traded to the Stars. With the Hurricanes, he played 13 games scoring two goals and adding four assists for six points. Throughout the entire 2024-25 campaign, he has scored 29 goals and added 44 assists for 73 points through 64 games which comes out to a 1.14 points-per-game average. Throughout his career, he has scored 291 goals and added 399 assists for 690 points through 634 games which comes out to a 1.09 points-per-game average.
Related: Oilers Pushing for Rantanen Could Foreshadow Aggressive Marner Pursuit This Offseason
There haven’t been any genuine reports indicating what the Oilers’ offer to the Stars was for Rantanen, but for them to have been far enough down the line that extension talks had begun, it’s safe to assume they had a good offer on the table. It’s hard to guess what the Hurricanes would have wanted in return from the Oilers since they don’t have the draft capital to beat out the Stars’ package, but I would guess Evan Bouchard or Matthew Savoie were part of any package going back to the Hurricanes, which simply wouldn’t happen.
Rantanen Joining Stars Makes Western Conference Playoff Race Tighter
The Oilers made it to the Stanley Cup Final last season where they came up short losing to the Florida Panthers in seven games, but they were able to win their way out of the Western Conference. With Rantanen joining the Stars, that conference becomes much tighter and there’s no real runaway selection of who could make it out of the West. The Oilers not being able to bring Rantanen in makes them underdogs heading into the postseason, and the Stars may have the edge if the two face each other in the playoffs.
The Oilers may have tried to take a swing on some other players at the trade deadline, including Rickard Rakell and Ryan Donato who were both reportedly available but their respective teams opted not to move them, but they weren’t able to bolster their forward depth in the way some other teams have. They were able to bring in Trent Frederic and Max Jones from the Boston Bruins who both add strength to their bottom six, but they aren’t going to move the needle that makes them championship contenders.
Either way, the team pursuing Rantanen at the trade deadline may be an indicator that the Oilers are willing to spend big. Free agency in the summer will have several big names available, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Oilers tried to make a massive splash. At the end of the day, the Oilers will have a tougher path to the Stanley Cup Final after Rantanen’s move to the Stars, but they still have a deep enough roster to try and make a deep run, so we will see what happens.
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