Martin Necas had two assists, nearly scored twice himself and excelled on the top line. Jack Drury scored a goal and centered a new-look depth line while all 12 Avs forwards played more than 10 minutes, a departure from the usual top-heavy distribution.

Mikko Rantanen does not believe he priced himself out of the future plans of the Colorado Avalanche. Speaking with Finnish media Sunday, Rantanen said, “Discussions about an extension with the club were open.

Makar scored again to give Colorado a 3-2 lead at 14:36 of the period with the Avs on the power play. Necas reversed the puck from the right side of the ice to the left, then MacKinnon set up Makar at the top of the zone for his 18th goal of the season.

Elliotte Friedman reports that money was one significant factor (perhaps the biggest) in the Colorado Avalanche’s decision to trade Mikko Rantanen.

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

DENVER — Trading Moose is fan abuse. Surely, they’re not done. Right? Shipping out Mikko Rantanen has to be the beginning of a mid-season makeover — not the Finn-ishing piece. Surely, somebody’s coming.

Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said trading Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes was a "tough business decision," calling the star winger a "superstar human being."

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 Colorado Avalanche were at an impasse with Mikko Rantanen in terms of getting a contract done. There were talks at the beginning of the season as the unrestricted free agent was eligible to sign a new contract on July 1st,

A stunned Nathan MacKinnon tried to make sense of the Colorado Avalanche trading Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.

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.