Report: Avalanche and Rantanen at ‘stalemate’ on contract talks

The future of Colorado Avalanche superstar Mikko Rantanen is getting more interesting by the day, specifically because he still doesn’t have a contract extension.

A report earlier this week said Rantanen could be moved by the March 7 trade deadline if his agents and the Avs can’t find a solution on a new deal. He’s currently playing in the final year of his contract.

NHL insider Frank Seravalli elaborated on where things stand with Colorado and Rantanen on Thursday night, and provided some important context.

So, what’s going on with #GoAvsGo contract talks with Mikko Rantanen?

Tonight on NHL Coast to Coast on @SportsOnPrimeCA:pic.twitter.com/OdYD6DqnoR

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 17, 2025

First, a trade doesn’t sound like it’s imminent even if the sides can’t agree on something before early March.

“That’s not an ultimatum that’s ever been issued to the Rantanen camp. And beyond that, I don’t think that’s a position that the Colorado Avalanche would want to be in at this point in time given how productive Rantanen has been and how much he means to that team,” Seravalli said.

That makes sense. Rantanen has topped 100 points each of the last two seasons and is on his way to doing it again this year. Through 46 games, Rantanen has 25 goals and 37 assists, good for 62 points.

As usual in these cases, the sticking point appears to be money. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, who plays second-fiddle to Connor McDavid, recently inked a deal worth $14 million a year. That’s what Rantanen and his advisors want.

However, since the Avalanche are paying Nathan MacKinnon $12.6 million a year through the end of the 2031 season, they don’t want to go higher than that number for Rantanen. MacKinnon is the best player on the team (arguably in the world) and going over his salary could create a weird dynamic in the locker room.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t like a resolution is right around the corner.

“What we’ve arrived at now is a bit of a stalemate. I believe things have been rather quiet on this file in the last number of weeks here. But they’ve got some time and I’d expect it to pick up during the 4 Nations Face-Off break,” Seravalli concluded.

Rantanen will play for Team Finland during the tournament scheduled to run from Feb. 12-20 while the NHL season pauses. Hopefully that’s the window where a new contract can get done.

Until then, we wait, just as we have been all season long.

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