Toronto made HUGE offer for Rantanen but were turned down for stunning reason!

On Deadline Day on Friday, Mikko Rantanen was traded to the Stars by the Carolina Hurricanes and then signed an eight-year, $96 million deal with Dallas.

The contract has an average annual value of $12 million.

In return for Rantanen, the Hurricanes reportedly received forward Logan Stankoven and a first- and third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, and a first and third in the 2027 NHL Draft.

The Stars finally made the announcement official later on Friday around 5PMET.

As expected, many suitors were in the mix for Rantanen’s services and one of them were the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Nick Kypreos has revealed that the “Maple Leafs had an official offer of Minten, Cowan, and two first-round picks on the table for Mikko Rantanen.Carolina “said no on the thought that they could meet the Leafs and Rantanen in the playoffs.”

However, Carolina was never a place where Rantanen wanted to stay and unfortunately for the Canes, they got a less better deal with Dallas right at the deadline.

Meanwhile, Toronto added the third-line centre that it’s been seeking for weeks in a trade for Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers.

Not long after, that the Leafs acquired Brandon Carlo, a big defensive defenseman, from the Boston Bruins in exchange for a first-round pick and prospect Fraser Minten, who was reportedly offered to Carolina before Toronto was rejected.

The Maple Leafs needed to clear salary cap space to make the move work and also traded Conor Timmins and Connor Dewar to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Those two combine for $2.28 million against the salary cap.

Rantanen is now in Dallas and won’t meet up against Carolina in the postseason unless both teams make it to the Stanley Cup final. And unfortunately for the Hurricanes, I cannot see them making it far or at all in the postseason…