RALEIGH — They say timing is everything. That very well may be why Mikko Rantanen will be wearing a Stars’ green Tuesday night at Lenovo Center and not a Hurricanes jersey.
Carolina acquired Rantanen from Colorado nearly a full year ago, last Jan. 24, in a three-team trade that sent Martin Necas, Jack Drury and draft picks to Colorado and also brought Taylor Hall to Raleigh from Chicago.
But Rantanen — initially viewed as the answer to the team’s long search for a star player — lasted just 13 games in Raleigh before negotiations on a contract extension fizzled, leading to his trade to Dallas on March 7.
“I think the timing and the deadline was closing in,” Rantanen said following Tuesday’s morning skate of why the relationship with the Hurricanes didn’t work out. “Obviously, they wanted to get the extension before the deadline, and I understand it totally.
“The timing wasn’t — then we had 4 Nations. I was gone for two weeks, and we just kind of ran out of time a little bit. So it wasn’t easy for me, and I don’t think for anybody else. So it was tough — tough decisions and not easy.”
Still, Rantanen has fond memories of his brief time with the Hurricanes, saying he recalled “just how nice everybody was and, like I said, the organization, everybody who works there and all the players, the fans, everybody were so welcoming, and nothing but good things to say.”
He shouldn’t expect such a welcome Tuesday.
The Stars have the NHL’s second-best record but are 0-2-3 in the last five games, their longest losing streak of the season. But the focus of the Lenovo Center crowd will likely be squarely on Rantanen rather than a measuring stick game between two of the league’s top teams.
“Yeah, I’m expecting it,” Rantanen said of the anticipated fan reception. “I’m an opponent now, so I understand totally. … I understand the nature of it, and it’s a competitive sport and fans are really good here in Carolina. They love the team, and it’s really good to see. They’re loud, and nothing but good things to say about the whole organization and the fans. But, yeah, let’s see how it is.”
For what it’s worth, those in the Hurricanes organization have nothing but good things to say about Rantanen despite him spurning the team’s advances last year. That includes Sebastian Aho, who is a longtime friend of the Dallas winger and will play with him on Team Finland in next month’s Olympic Games.
Aho said he and Dallas’ contingent of Finnish players had dinner Monday night and were “really pumped” for the upcoming best-on-best tournament. He also said last year’s saga didn’t affect his friendship with Rantanen.
“Not at all,” Aho said. “At the end of the day, when he signed there, he helped us at the time to get the return and all that. He was in a tough situation at the end of the day, and there’s a lot of pressure at the time.
“It looks like he made a good decision too because he’s having a good year and they have a good team. I don’t want to dive too much into it, but to your question, no, it didn’t affect our friendship. That’s hockey business and all that.”
Rantanen echoed Aho’s sentiment.
“I think he understands it, and I do,” Rantanen said. “(We’re) still good friends. We had dinner last night. He’s a great friend of mine, and (I’m) excited to play with him in the Olympic level. He’s obviously a phenomenal player. So it’s a big part of our Finnish team.”
So while the fans may be prepared to rain boos down on Rantanen Tuesday night, Aho said there are no hard feelings.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to beat his former — and future Olympic — teammate.
“A lot of friends out there,” Aho said, “but not during the game. … That’s a completely different conversation. But off the ice, it’s a different story.”
And Rantanen expects a tough game from his former team.
“I remember playing here,” he said. “It’s tough to win here, and we’re in the skid a little bit, five games in a row. So this is the game to play simple. We can’t give too many opportunities. They have a lot of good players who can score, so we’ve got to be on our toes right from the start.”
