"We're not close ... they're high profile guys," Mike Liut, who represents each of the restricted free agents, said on TSN 650 on Wednesday. "... There's nothing happened that we didn't know was going to happen. Nothing has gone on that we didn't anticipate."
Rantanen, a 22-year-old forward for the Colorado Avalanche, had an NHL career-high 87 points (31 goals, 56 assists) in 74 games last season, second on the Avalanche behind center Nathan MacKinnon (99 points; 41 goals, 58 assists), and 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Laine, a 21-year-old forward selected No. 2 by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2016 NHL Draft, had 50 points (30 goals, 20 assists) in 82 games last season and has 110 goals in his first three NHL seasons.
"There's term, there's AAV (average annual value), there's structure, and clubs have to manage their NHL salary
of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"I've been browsing all contract news, but haven't read them thoroughly," Rantanen told Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat in comments translated by NHL.com. "Let's just see what happens."
Rantanen said Monday he would join SC Bern in Switzerland to train while he remains without an NHL contract. Laine has been practicing with SC Bern since Sunday.
"We'll take it one day at a time," Rantanen said. "Due to the current situation, we can't make any long-term plans. We're leaving Bern next week at the latest."
The Avalanche and Jets have begun playing preseason games and each begins the regular season on Oct. 3; Colorado hosts the Flames and Winnipeg visits the New York Rangers.
NHL.com/fi independent correspondent Sami Haapasalo contributed to this report
