RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Mikko Rantanen scored his first goal with Carolina, helping the Hurricanes beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Thursday night. Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin also scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the sixth time in seven games. Pyotr Kochetkov made 18 saves.

Mikko Rantanen scored in his Hurricanes home debut as Carolina posted a 3-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C.

The Blackhawks could expedite their painstaking rebuilding process and be significant players in free agency this summer.

Will he re-sign in Carolina after this season -- and if not, where else? And what will other contenders do to keep pace ahead of the March 7 deadline?

The Avalanche made one of the biggest trades in Colorado sports history last week when it sent away star forward Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes in a deal that included the Blackhawks. In return, the Avs received forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury, plus a pair of draft picks (2025 second-rounder and 2026 fourth-rounder).

The word “blockbuster” gets thrown around a little too often in today’s NHL, often for trades unworthy of the term, in the same way that anything might feel like a five-star meal to a starving man. But the deal that dropped on Friday night? That one deserves the title, no questions asked.

NHL general managers indicated that the Carolina Hurricanes' trade for Mikko Rantanen won't change their deadline approach.

Mikko Rantanen says he was willing to take a discount to stay with the Avalanche before the Hurricanes trade happened.

Last week, some insiders posted that Kotkaniemi was involved in the blockbuster Mikko Rantanen trade. And so the forward thought he was gone. Full story:

The newcomers got to practice for the first time with the Avalanche. Sidney Crosby is Canada’s captain for 4 Nations and one of the Avs will be an alternate. Should Colorado pick up a young defenseman off of waivers?

The tremors from the Mikko Rantanen blockbuster were still echoing around the league when another bomb dropped in Vancouver this week.