The latest round of speculation started after the Hurricanes acquired Mikko Rantanen in a blockbuster trade on Friday, fueling "baseless rumors," as labeled by The Athletic's Josh Yohe, that the Avalanche might be positioning themselves to acquire Crosby.

The Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks got together on Friday night and gave us one of the biggest blockbuster trades in

The Carolina Hurricanes are reportedly loading up with multiple key players from the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks in a massive blockbuster deal.

The Finnish winger, obtained in mega trade with the Colorado Avalanche, earned his first goal as a Hurricane, while fellow newcomer Taylor Hall was a late scratch with an illness.

Here are our Mikko Rantanen trade grades for the Blackhawks, Avalanche, and Hurricanes after Friday's stunning deal.

The Chicago Blackhawks may have had Mikko Rantanen in their grasp for a few minutes before moving him onto the Carolina Hurricanes, but they could shoot for a longer stay this summer.

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

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.

Earlier in the week, the Blackhawks traded Taylor Hall to the Hurricanes, and Connor Bedard is now reacting to the move.

The Carolina Hurricanes will be back in Raleigh, N.C., for a game Thursday night with a different look from when they last played on home ice.

The Carolina Hurricanes acquired forwards Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall in a blockbuster three-team trade with the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.