This in from NHL insider Andy Strickland of St. Louis, his prediction on the Cam & Strick podcast that the Edmonton Oilers will sign Mikko Rantanen this summer.
Rantanen, who is in the Top 10 NHL players, was recently traded from Colorado to Carolina, essentially for forward Martin Necas. Rantanen is an Unrestricted Free Agent this summer.
“You want to know where Mikko Rantanen is going to end up?” Stickland said. “Edmonton. He’s going to Edmonton. They’re going to be able to pay him #1. And I think that there would be some interest from him.”
“How are they gonna be with him?” asked co-host Cam Janssens, stating the obvious question as Edmonton is already pressed up against the cap, but with Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard to sign this summer.
” Cam, don’t ask me to break down the cap,” Strickland replied. “There’s some belief that they can make that happen. So you gotta look at who’s coming off the books, and all that type of stuff. Salary cap is going up, however they structure it. I mean, you just mentioned five teams (where Rantanen might sign this summer). How the hell are any of those other teams gonna pay him? You know what I’m saying? Everyone’s up against the cap.”
Stickland mentioned that Edmonton star Leon Draisaitl and Rantanen have the same agent.
He said of his prediction: “This is not just speculation, It’s informed speculation,”
Strickland denied that Rantanen asked for $14 million. He said Colorado initially offered around 11.25 million in training camp, but later raised that to 11.6 million.”
He said that would be the same as Artemi Panarin is paid, the highest paid NHL winger. Stickland said Rantanen’s value is higher than that of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
My take
1. If Strickland wanted to draw attention from the information-hungry Edmonton Oilers fanbase, it worked. This is one juicy rumour, even as it’s difficult to see how the Oilers can make this work given the NHL’s salary cap.
2. Of course, stranger things have happened in the NHL. Sometimes teams do find a way to bring in star players under the cap against major odds. But Edmonton would have to be ruthless in terms of cutting out other significant contracts in order to afford Rantanen.
3. Strickland is a credible insider. He’s broken a lot of stories. Does he have this right? He presents it as a prediction, as informed speculation. But it’s just speculation.
I’m guessing — given the highly specific numbers he put out on Colorado’s offer to Rantanen — that he’s talked to Rantanen’s agent, but that’s just my own uninformed speculation.
Of course, the job of an agent is to talk up a client player and build market interest in him. Perhaps that’s all we’re seeing here, just an agent doing his job.
In any case: Dare to dream!
At the Cult of Hockey
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