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.

After a blockbuster trade late Friday, Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall made their Carolina Hurricanes debuts in the team’s overtime road loss at the New York Islanders.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall each made his debut for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday.

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.

In his first home game since being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 24, Rantanen recorded his first goal as a member of the squad. The early second-period tally put the Hurricanes on top of the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 after teammate Jack Roslovic provided a sick between-the-legs assist as he entered the offensive zone.

It’s become a pattern now — the Colorado Avalanche look like the better team for the better part of the first 40 minutes and then the final period is a problem.

Brock Nelson scored 2:03 into overtime and the New York Islanders rallied to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Saturday night.

As much as the Colorado Avalanche would've liked to cap off this whirlwind of a road trip on a positive note, they failed to do so. The team, which looks a little different having replaced Mikko Rantanen with Martin Necas and Jack Drury,

Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman talk about Ichiro, C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner getting elected to the Hall of Fame, the Dodgers introducing Roki Sasaki and the Braves solidifying their lineup and outfield by signing Jurickson Profar.

Here are three blockbuster Avalanche trade targets in the wake of the stunning Mikko Rantanen trade with the Hurricanes.