After monster Rantanen trade, Dallas cleans up roster and cap in last hour of deadline day

The Dallas Stars have pulled off quite the trade on Deadline Day, acquiring star forward Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes in return for Logan Stankoven and two first-round picks.

The deal was made official once the Stars were able to agree to a contract extension with Rantanen, who agreed to an eight-year, $96-million deal as he re-joins the Central Division.

This was a stunning move out of Carolina since they traded for Rantanen in January, sending forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury plus a trio of draft picks to the Avalanche to acquire the star forward. Despite Rantanen being a pending free agent, the Canes were focused on signing him, offering an eight-year offer to lock down the forward long-term.

However, Rantanen, who was stunned by the move out of Colorado, turned down the offer wanting to take his time with the decision. The Hurricanes did not want to lose him for nothing this summer, and flipped him again on Friday.

With the addition of Rantanen, the Stars cleaned up its roster by placing defenseman Miro Heiskanen on LTIR, adding $8.45M in Cap Space. He joins Tyler Seguin and Nils Lundkvist on the reserve.

Prior to trade, that gives them $14M Cap Space available in LTIR, per Puck Pedia.

This then allowed the Stars to sign pending free agent Wyatt Johnson to a five year contract amid a crazy deadline day.

The deal between Carolina and Dallas took hours to complete, but is done with general manager Jim Nill looking as the best GM on today’s deadline.

Rantanen joins fellow countrymen Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell, and Mikael Granlund, teammates at the 4 Nations Face-Off for Team Finland, and now in Dallas.