Carolina Will Offer Mikko Rantanen a Competitive Contract to Keep Him
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Morning Skate on Wednesday with Scott Laughlin and Gord Stellick and was asked about Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes and what type of offer they would legitimately throw at him to keep him.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
NHL Rumors: The Carolina Hurricanes May Have the Appetite to Pay Big Money for Mikko Rantanen
Scott Laughlin: “Friedge you mentioned (Mikko) Rantanen, and I just wonder at this stage, it’s still relatively early, but how would you gage their chances at extending Rantanen and holding on to him beyond just being a rental and you hear, okay, well, they learned their lesson. They went out and got Jake Guentzel but now he’s playing for Tampa. They couldn’t keep him in Raleigh.
What are you thinking about the opportunities for Carolina to step into big-boy territory and really take on a contract like Rantanen? Like obviously we’re talking $13, $14 million if he should hit the market, especially given the fact that the cap supposed to go up each year for the next three years running. What do you think the chances are that he extends with Carolina?”
Elliotte Friedman: “I think that they will make him a big offer. Like, I think Carolina will do the math. And if you take a look at it without the eighth year, let’s just, let’s just guesstimate Scott that it’s seven times 14 if he hits the open market. Okay, so that’s $98 million. I know you have difficulty with multiplication, so I will do that for you. So, so seven times 14 is 98. I think Carolina goes above that. I think they maybe not the AAV, but the overall number, I think Carolina will come in at 100 or over. That’s my guess.
And I think that’s what they’ll do. And I think they’ll try to keep him. My guess is they try to keep the AAV somewhere between 12.5 and 13, so they offer some deferment there. I don’t know if it’ll work, but I just don’t think that Carolina does this without having its eyes wide open as to what Rantanen was looking for in Denver and also what it will take to keep it. Like they’re not going to waste their own time, and everyone else’s here. Does it do it? I don’t know, but I think that’s what it will take.
NHL Rumors: Can the Carolina Hurricanes Sign Mikko Rantanen?
Like, that’s the way (Tom) Dundon and (Eric) Tulsky, they have talked about how they wanted a star player there. Like a League Top 10 player there, and now they’ve got one. So I don’t think they’re going to waste their time or anyone else’s. I think they have to make a legit offer and somewhat understand the way they think, like they’re both really smart percentage guys, and they understand the way that kind of thing works.
I think they say, if we think of numbers 98 in the open market, we got to beat that with the advantage of our eighth year and that’s what I think they’re going to try to do. So my guess is they come in around 100 maybe a bit more, and say, Look, we can offer you in whole money more than what we think you’ll get on the open market. And that’s where I think their bets going to be.”
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