The Avalanche shocked the hockey world by trading Mikko Rantanen. But don't fret, Avs fans -- Colorado still has superstars other teams would move heaven and earth to acquire.

The Avalanche made one of the biggest trades in Colorado sports history last week when it sent away star forward Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes in a deal that included the Blackhawks. In return, the Avs received forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury, plus a pair of draft picks (2025 second-rounder and 2026 fourth-rounder).

Despite trading one of the NHL's scoring leaders and a franchise stalwart, MacFarland says the Avalanche are still "all-in."

Facing the prospect of Colorado's star winger Mikko Rantanen becoming an unrestricted free agent after this season, general manager Chris MacFarland felt the timing was right to deal him away and bolster the Avalanche's roster for the future.

Rantanen said he thought talks with the Avs had been productive before the shocking trade to the Canes: "I didn’t know we were in a rush."

The hockey world turned upside down on Friday when the Colorado Avalanche sent star forward Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes. Colorado shifted its attention to a Saturday game against the Boston Bruins in which it dropped 3-1,

Mikko Rantanen skated to center ice at UBS Arena and a familiar sound emanated from his teammates near the bench. “Moooose.” Rantanen scooped up the puck on his stick, smoothly moved toward the goaltender and then snapped a shot off the crossbar and into the net.

Jared Bednar has been known to rely heavily on his top forwards, often overplaying the top line to the point where some nights you wouldn't know the Avalanche were even dressing 12 forwards. That was not the case in Sunday's 5-4 win over the New York Rangers.