Mikko Rantanen’s recent NHL journey has been a rollercoaster straight out of a hockey soap opera. One minute, he is looking like he was a Colorado Avalanche player born and raised to wear that jersey. Then he is in the middle of trades, contracts, and more drama that even reality television could only dream of. First, he is traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in a mind-boggling three-team exchange on January 24. And just when things start to get back to normal, BAM! Dallas Stars arrive into the picture and offer him a contract he could not reject.

An eight-year, $96 million contract? Yeah, that’s the kind of deal that makes you stop questioning fate. After six unpredictable weeks of the transfer market, Rantanen has finally moved to Dallas, and fans, as well as Rantanen himself, must be dizzy. But now, the man himself is finally speaking on all the madness. From the Avalanche trade that no one saw coming to the final decision with Dallas, Rantanen is sharing all of his trade deadline drama.

In a video shared by Sportsnet, Hockey Night In Canada’s Scott Oake sat down with the newest Dallas Star, diving straight into the juicy details of his headline-making trade. Oake wasted no time, hitting him with the big question: “Mikko, you were the prize deadline catch and you had options. Why Dallas?” Without hesitation, Rantanen laid it out: “Well, I just know how good the team is. Obviously, I like the whole setup they have and I played against them a lot. I obviously knew some guys from before and yeah, just a really good team overall.” The man did his homework, and let’s be real—landing in Dallas isn’t just about the vibes. It’s about stacking up wins with a squad built for domination.

But what about his short-lived Carolina stint? Oake didn’t shy away, reminding everyone how the Hurricanes had big plans to re-sign him after acquiring him in that blockbuster January trade. So, when did he decide to move on? Mikko Rantanen admitted, “I think it was last week, I just, obviously it was a shock and they didn’t want it to happen at that time and then I just had to look at all the options… the guys were great and the team is really good but, it’s just, I had to look at it from all the angles and this was my decision.”

No hard feelings, just business. And now, he’s preparing for the same in Dallas with Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson in the mix—just a nightmare for the opposition. When asked about the explosive possibilities, he kept it humble but confident, “Well, yeah, I think, you know, three good players so hopefully we can get on the same page… or I just have to talk to them as much as I can and try to get the chemistry going as quickly as possible.” The league better watch out—this trio is about to be pure dynamite on ice.

Now, the Mikko Rantanen trade had quite an interesting story! The Edmonton Oilers were looking forward to making a trade before the deadline on Friday in a bid to acquire the star forward from Carolina. And guess what? Rantanen was actually interested! Negotiations were ongoing, and Edmonton even had a more attractive offer on the table than the eight-year, $96 million deal he later signed with Dallas.

The Hurricanes quickly realized that they wouldn’t be able to re-sign him for the long term after only 13 games. So, boom—trade-and-sign with Dallas! Now, the real battle starts as Rantanen prepares to play his first-ever game for the Stars against the Oilers on Saturday. And even the Stars’ GM has noted some important characteristics of Mikko Rantanen.

Mikko Rantanen’s qualities highlighted!

The Dallas Stars are in pole position to make the playoffs, standing in second position in the Central Division. And Rantanen only adds to add to their chances of making a deep run. Over the last four seasons, he has scored a whopping 371 points in 299 regular season games—numbers that have placed him 7th in the NHL.

His postseason numbers? 101 points in 81 playoff games. Impressive right? No wonder the Stars’ GM Jim Nill was over the moon about having him on the team.

“The chance to acquire and extend one of the best forwards in the NHL is an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up,” stated the GM. He continued on Rantanen’s performance and said that he was big, skilled, consistent, and had playoff experience, which are all the qualities that are needed for a team to win the championship. Of course, his time in Carolina was short-lived, but we should not forget–this man already has a Stanley Cup from the 2022 season. The question that arises now is whether Mikko Rantanen will be able to do it again and make the Stars brighter than ever.