Welcome 'home': Hurricanes' Mikko Rantanen scores in home debut, a win over Blackhawks

Chip Alexander, The News & Observer on Jan 30, 2025

Published in Hockey

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RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes went to Long Island a week ago with Martin Necas and Jack Drury on the charter flight.

They returned to Raleigh with Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall.

Things can change that quickly in the NHL, and Rantanen was in the lineup for his first home game Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Lenovo Center. But not Hall, who missed the game because of illness, as did Sebastian Aho.

Rantanen, in his third game with the Canes since the stunning Friday trade with Colorado, scored his first goal in a 3-2 victory.

Seth Jarvis made his 20th goal of the season, a short-handed strike in the first period, and Jaccob Slavin scored in the second for the Canes (32-16-4), who have a seven-game point streak (6-0-1-). Goalie Pyotr Kochetkov earned his 19th win, allowing goals to Connor Bedard and Ilya Mikheyev.

Being able to trade for Rantanen was a major coup for the Canes and general manager Eric Tulsky. In came a former All-Star and one of the league’s most productive scorers, a big Finnish winger who was drafted by the Avalanche and played 10 seasons in Denver, winning a Stanley Cup in 2022.

Then, he was traded for Necas and Drury. In January, not at the NHL trade deadline.

“It’s a hard business and it’s not always in your hands what happens,” Rantanen said after Thursday’s morning skate.

His new coach knows as well as anyone. Rod Brind’Amour had spent parts of nine seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers before his sudden trade to the Hurricanes in January 2000.

Brind’Amour seemed to be in a daze at first, Rantanen was told.

“Yeah, I totally understand it,” Rantanen said. “When you’ve been with an organization for 10 years, just knowing how the team works and having the same coach the whole time, the routine being the same for 10 years. …

“When you’re expecting something to happen, you already mentally are switching. But when it comes like that, it’s a lot to handle. A lot of emotions.”

It was different for Hall, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers. A former Hart Trophy winner as the league’s MVP, he’s now with his seventh NHL team after being sent to the Canes by the Blackhawks.

“Not everyone’s career goes exactly the way you want,” Hall said Thursday. “I can sit here and feel sorry for myself or beat myself up, but I’m excited to be here. I’m proud of my career and think there’s a lot more ahead of me.

“I’ve played almost 900 games and have a chance to win a Stanley Cup. That’s kind of my mindset.”

After the Friday night mega trades, which sent ripples through the NHL, Rantanen and Hall were in the lineup Saturday for the Canes’ overtime loss to the New York Islanders, then the 4-0 win over the Rangers on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Rantanen was slotted on Aho’s line in the first two games, allowing him to rejoin a player he has known since their junior hockey days in Finland a decade ago — the two will serve as alternate captains for Team Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off event.

With Aho out Thursday, Jack Roslovic centered Rantanen and rookie Jackson Blake, who assisted on Slavin’s second-period goal.

Hall, unlike Aho, participated in Thursday’s morning skate. He later talked with the media about being traded by the Blackhawks, about facing them so soon after the trade. Then, the absence come game time.

Ryan Suzuki was hastily recalled Thursday from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and made his NHL debut. A former first-round pick by the Canes, he arrived at the arena 15 minutes before the pregame warmups to give the Canes an 11th forward to play with six defenseman.

For Rantanen and Hall, it’s about absorbing Brind’Amour’s system and getting comfortable with the Canes’ style of play — Hall called it “in-your-face” — and the team.

“They’re smart hockey players and hockey is hockey,” Brind’Amour said Thursday morning. “When you’re a good player, you can adjust quickly and those players have been around.”

Hall noted the Hurricanes soon will have their bye week and the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“The timing works out well,” Hall said. “I think me and Mikko have a lot of runway to get used to the group, get used to everything and our surroundings before the playoffs.”