Mikko Rantanen has agreed to terms on a 6-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche worth $55.5 million, $9.25 million a season.
The 22-year old, Finnish, 2015 first round pick is a major piece of the Colorado Avalanche rebuild into a Stanley Cup contender, and had a huge 2018 season though he missed eight games toward the end of the regular season.
Rantanen was second on the team in points with 87 (31 goals and 56 assists) and was part of the Avalanche dynamic first line that drug the team into the playoffs.
Mitch Marner and his agent finally caved and broke the holdout by agreeing to a six-year contract averaging $10.8 million a season on September 13.
Marner was expected to be the first to sign in order to set the market value for young, franchise caliber, right wingers and the rest of the holdouts were expected to soon follow.
Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog have an opportunity to restore the once dominant Avalanche to Stanley Cup prominence, alongside a talented core of defense men and a starting caliber Goaltender in net.
The Avalanche are primed to take another step forward after claiming the eighth seed in 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
In the playoffs the Avalanche knocked out the number one seed Calgary Flames in five games, proving they deserved to be in the playoffs.
In the second round, the team took the San Jose Sharks to a game seven, in San Jose, and fell in a hard fought game. in 2019, the team looks to build on their previous years accomplishments and get to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Avalanche have a much improved, deeper roster heading into 2019, a strong pipeline of young talent coming up, a goaltender the team and fans believe in, and the best top line in the NHL.
Securing Mikko Rantanen for the foreseeable future was the most important roster move General Manager Joe Sakic made this off-season.
