Rantanen Eyeing Big Extension With Colorado or in Free Agency
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period was on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio on Wednesday and was asked about Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche and what his new extension could look like with his current team or another team if he gets to free agency.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
NHL Rumors: Mikko Rantanen And Pittsburgh Goaltending
Martin Biron: “One of the other headline on your website at TheFourthPeriod.com is Rantanen in line for a monster extension? He’s 28 years old. He’s making $9.25 now, what are you thinking when you say monster extension?”
Dave Pagnotta: “You’re probably looking at, you know, something similar to percentage wise of the cap that guys like his teammate Nate McKinnon pulled in and his first year was last season, like what Auston Matthews is pulling in. Some of these guys that are now walking into these big-time extensions are hovering around 15% of the salary cap, same with the Leon Draisaitl that locked in at the start of this season.
Obviously, some of those guys that I mentioned might be cut above, but at least there’s a strong range and a strong ceiling to understand the type of dollars that a guy like Rantanen may end up getting. The same as Mitch Marner in Toronto.
NHL Rumors: What Will Mikko Rantanen Make with the Colorado Avalanche?
Very similar situations, two different players stylistically, but in terms of overall impact, they’re going to be kind of neck and neck in terms of what type of dollars they’re going to end up getting, and I think the Rantanen side of things, you could certainly make the argument that he’s going to be in that 12 to 13 range, on an AAV, on a long term deal, seven, eight years, depending on what It ends up coming to.
So little back and forth, things appear, at least optically, to have quieted down with respect to those discussions. But Rantanen is going to be in line, certainly for one heck of a big deal once he gets it, whether it’s in Colorado or if he hits the open market in the summer, which certainly the Avs want to avoid.”