DENVER -- Mikko Rantanen can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, but the Colorado Avalanche aren’t worried yet about re-signing the star forward.
“No concern about it going into the season; these are not easy deals to do,” general manager Chris MacFarland said Tuesday. “The player obviously has the UFA right to go, and the club has to make smart decisions, both for the short term and the long term.”
A first-round pick (No. 10) by Colorado at the 2015 NHL Draft, Rantanen finished second on the Avalanche last season with 104 points (42 goals, 62 assists) in 80 games. He had 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Rantanen, who turns 28 on Oct. 29, had 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) during the 2022 postseason, when he helped Colorado win the Stanley Cup. He has 617 points (262 goals, 355 assists) in 570 regular-season games and 101 points (34 goals, 67 assists) in 81 playoff games, all with the Avalanche. He is entering the final season of a six-year contract he signed Sept. 28, 2019.
Colorado plays its season opener Wednesday at the Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT).
“There’s talks, obviously, with my camp and the front office, and it’s done when it’s done,” Rantanen said during training camp last month. “Business will always take care of itself, and I’m just here to play hockey and get ready for another season and try to help my team win. That’s my goal. My job is to try to help this team win every game.”
With captain Gabriel Landeskog still not cleared to return from multiple knee surgeries, including a cartilage transplant May 10, 2023, and forward Valeri Nichushkin suspended until at least November, the Avalanche will be relying heavily on Rantanen and center Nathan MacKinnon out of the gate.
MacKinnon won the Hart Trophy, which goes to the player voted most valuable to his team, after he had an NHL career-high 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists) in 82 games last season.
“This group has done a hell of a lot of winning over the last number of years -- three straight years of 50 wins -- that's a lot of winning. That's hard,” MacFarland said. “You're missing [forward Artturi] Lehkonen, you're missing Val, you're missing Landeskog. Those are three top six players. So, is the first month going to be a challenge? Yeah, it's going to be a challenge. But we’ve got faith in those guys.”
While MacFarland has his hands full managing a team in flux, he’s confident that open lines of communication will continue. MacFarland got some business out of the way when Colorado signed forward Logan O'Connor to a six-year contract Sept. 23.
“When there's news, there's news, like O’Connor’s [contract] dropped out of the sky and got done,” MacFarland said. “We’ve got a few other UFAs, I think, as well. So, I can assure you of one thing, my phone's always on, and I know Mikko's representation's phone’s always on. So, that's as much as I can say on it.”
Alexandar Georgiev is entering the last of a three-year contract signed July 10, 2022, and can also become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The 28-year-old goalie went 38-18-5 with a 3.02 goals-against average and .897 save percentage in 63 games (62 starts) last season.
“I never say never on anything,” MacFarland said. “We're just excited to get the season started. Hopefully Georgiev gets off to a real good start and those things can take care of themselves.”
