RALEIGH, N.C. — Mikko Rantanen is 28 years old. He has two 100-point seasons on his resume. The high-scoring wing has informed the Carolina Hurricanes he will not sign an extension before Friday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. As such, teams have been calling the Hurricanes to gauge what it would take to acquire Rantanen, the No. 1 target on The Athletic’s NHL trade board.
But according to one NHL executive, granted anonymity to discuss a player not under his team’s control, some of the parties interested in Rantanen were also doing due diligence Thursday with the Boston Bruins regarding Brad Marchand. If Rantanen is unavailable or too expensive to acquire, in other words, Marchand could serve as a less costly Plan B.
Marchand has an eight-team no-trade list. It is unknown whether the Bruins have asked Marchand to waive his partial no-trade protection.
The Bruins, meanwhile, are not just listening on Marchand. The executive noted the Bruins have made it known they are serious about trading Marchand. As of Thursday, they had set a high price.
As for what that might be, another NHL executive speculated that Marchand’s market value at this year’s deadline was a first-round pick, a roster player and an A-level prospect. That would be a significant return for what could be a rental — a limited one, at that.
Marchand missed his third straight game Thursday because of an upper-body injury suffered on March 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. On Tuesday, the Bruins declared him to be out week-to-week.
The injury appeared to settle that Marchand would remain a Bruin past the deadline. Even before that, the captain had repeated his desire to be a Bruin for life and had no wish to be traded. General manager Don Sweeney shared that sentiment.
However, Marchand’s eight-year, $49 million contract is expiring. The sides have been talking all year regarding an extension. At this point, the difference in opinion may be too significant to overcome. Term is the most likely disagreement between the Bruins and their 36-year-old lifer.
Current circumstances may also be feeding the Bruins’ bent toward trading Marchand. The Bruins are three points out of the No. 2 wild-card position following Thursday’s heartbreaking 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes. Seth Jarvis scored the winner with 18.6 seconds remaining in regulation after Nikita Zadorov’s stick broke during a clearing attempt in front of Joonas Korpisalo.
Two days prior, Sweeney traded Trent Frederic to the Edmonton Oilers. The Bruins are also without Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm.
Also, sellers are doing well so far. A second-round pick for Frederic is important capital for the Bruins, considering Frederic’s poor season and his status as a rental. Other high returns include the pair of first-round picks the Seattle Kraken scored from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Given Marchand’s insistence on remaining a lifelong Bruin, the sides could come to a compromise before the deadline. If time runs out on negotiations, the Bruins would require a firm understanding of an agreement post-deadline. They cannot risk letting Marchand walk for nothing.
Meanwhile, the Bruins traded Justin Brazeau to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. They brought back Jakub Lauko, their third-round pick in 2018, Marat Khusnutdinov and a 2026 sixth-round pick. Lauko, 24, is restricted after this season. Khusnutdinov, 22, will also be restricted.
Brazeau was a healthy scratch against the Hurricanes. He did not join the team on its postgame flight to Tampa. The right wing has 10 goals and 10 assists in 57 games. The Bruins were not interested in re-signing the pending unrestricted free agent. He is in the last season of a two-year, $1.55 million contract.
“This time of year sucks,” said Morgan Geekie, who scored both Bruins goals. “Especially when you’re in the position we’re in. But at the end of the day, that’s the reality of the business. It sucks when you’re getting rid of guys that are like family and been here for a while. It’s always tough, especially when you see rumors and stuff. It’ll be nice when we get through that, however we end up through everything. The group we’ll have then will be the group that will get the job done and just keep building on what we did tonight.”
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
