After a blockbuster trade late Friday, Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall made their Carolina Hurricanes debuts in the team’s overtime road loss at the New York Islanders.

Getting a 3rd round pick from the Hurricanes gives the Blackhawks nine total selections in the upcoming draft.

While Mikko Rantanen stole the headlines, the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Taylor Hall on Friday too, who waived his no-trade clause to chase a Stanley Cup.

Rantanen admitted he spent a lot of time staring at the ceiling Friday night. The goal celebrations with the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are no more. The bonds he made are likely unbreakable, but now it’s time to make new ones in his new home.

The rest of the trade includes Rantanen joining Hall in Carolina while the Avalanche received Martin Necas, Jack Drury, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick. Hall obviously won't be the focus of this trade,

Carolina didn't get the win and Hall didn't get on the scoresheet, but he wasn't invisible either. He lined up on the fourth line with Jack Roslovic and Juha Jaaska and recorded three shots and one hit in 11:36 of ice time.

The trade is a stunning midseason swap of point-per-game players in their primes, an anomaly in the NHL trade market in the salary-cap era.

The Carolina Hurricanes acquired forwards Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche and Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks in a three-team trade Friday night.

The Chicago Blackhawks today announced that the team has acquired a third-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Taylor Hall. Chicago will also retain 50 percent of Mikko Rantanen’s salary cap hit as part of the trade.

The first major domino on the NHL trade market has fallen. On Jan. 24, the Colorado Avalanche dealt elite winger Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury.

In a three-team blockbuster NHL trade, the Carolina Hurricanes added two key forwards from Colorado and Chicago.