CENTENNIAL, Colo — Mikko Rantanen was his usual self on the first day of training camp.
Entering the last year of his current contract, the superstar winger has yet to sign an extension. But he made it clear that he’d like to stay, albeit without divulging any information on when a new deal will be signed.
“Business will always take care of itself and I’m just here to play hockey and get ready for another season,” he said. “I’m trying to help my team win. So that’s my goal. I don’t want to talk about it too much, which you probably understand. But I guess my job is to help this team win.”
Rantanen skated alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin as part of the Avs’ first group to take the ice. He’s one of just six players to hit more than 100 points in each of the last two seasons.
“I’ll let it handle itself. Obviously, we won the Stanley Cup here,” Rantanen said. “I like the team, I like the city. If you win a Stanley Cup here then why would I want to leave? That’s the only thing I want to say about it. But we’ll see, it’s done when it’s done.”
Rantanen was rumored to be closing in on an extension earlier in the summer but nothing has been announced quite yet. He could very well be on his way to being a top-5 earning player in terms of annual average value. Which, along with MacKinnon, would give the Avs two of the top AAV’s in the league.
Some of his comparables include William Nylander in Toronto, who signed for eight years with an $11.5 million AAV, and Boston’s David Pastrnak ($11.25 million AAV).
Rantanen is represented by the same agent as Leon Draisaitl. And the Oilers star recently locked up an eight-year extension worth an NHL-high $14 million annually. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, that contract may have an impact on Rantanen’s demands for his next deal. The expectation is that the Avs will find a way to keep him below Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6 million AAV which was signed two years ago.
