For one, Brind’Amour is pairing his two best players by putting them on a line together. Aho has led the Hurricanes in scoring in six of the last seven seasons, and Rantanen was a superstar in Colorado, logging more minutes than any forward in the league since the start of the 2021-22 season.

The Finnish winger, obtained in mega trade with the Colorado Avalanche, earned his first goal as a Hurricane, while fellow newcomer Taylor Hall was a late scratch with an illness.

The Hawks will receive a third-round draft pick, but the Hurricanes' acquisition of Mikko Rantanen from the Avalanche is the far bigger part of the trade Friday, per reports.

The first major domino has fallen more than a month before the March 7 trade deadline, with Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall going to the Hurricanes and Martin Necas heading to the Avalanche in a three-team blockbuster,

Veteran forward Taylor Hall has joined his seventh team last week, as he was included in the blockbuster three-team trade between the Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes; he was traded from Chicago to Carolina, and it's a move that he approves of.

Plus the Panthers’ declining rush game, extreme special teams in Vegas and a couple of goalies who are deserving of some recognition.

As the NBA trade deadline looms, Kevin O'Connor and Tom Haberstroh team up to talk the hottest trade rumors, the latest on Jimmy Butler, which teams should start tanking and more. There is no telling what the figure skaters and their coaches and parents who perished in the crash of Flight 5342 were set to achieve on or off the ice.

Who won Friday night's blockbuster that saw Mikko Rantanen go from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes?

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.

The 28-year-old forward was an elite scorer in his nine-plus seasons with Colorado, recording a career-best 105 points in 2022-23 and 104 last year. He is on track to pass 100 points again this season.

Rantanen scored his 26th goal of the season in Thursday's 3-2 win over Chicago. His first goal with Carolina came on a counterattack early in the second period, as Rantanen took a drop pass from Jack Roslovic before going five-hole on Arvid Soderblom.