DLLS Dallas Stars live trade deadline blog

It is NHL trade deadline day, so let’s do a live DLLS Dallas Stars deadline blog throughout.

1:00 am

Pure chaos, as a rumored trade between Dallas and Carolina starts to spread… oh, and it involves superstar forward Mikko Rantanen. There have been plenty of rumors and reports, but in the end, the two sides went to bed (or nap) without making a deal.

Didn’t keep us all from staying up staring at our screens though, did it Stars fans?

7:00 am

Walking around the lake by my apartment, my phone will not stop buzzing.

Come on, leave me alone, eh?

9:30 am

Arriving at Comerica Center in Frisco to work from the media room with the awesome Dallas media, here is all we know right now…

The Stars and Hurricanes reportedly reached a trade deal involving Rantanen… BUT the trade is contingent on Rantanen signing an extension with Dallas.

As of now, it sounds like Dallas has offered eight years x $12 million, which would be short of what Rantanen has been looking for. He reportedly asked for $14 million in Colorado, and did not agree to a deal worth around $12.6 million per year with Carolina.

There have been a bunch of names mixed up as rumored returns for this trade.

Let’s make one thing clear first: the Stars will not trade Wyatt Johnston or Thomas Harley. No way, no how.

READ: The final Dallas Stars trade deadline countdown

The rumored names that could make sense are Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque. While Dallas would hate to lose one of both of those young players, Mikko Rantanen makes Dallas a far scarier Stanley Cup contender right now AND for eight seasons.

Dallas is “all in” remember?

If you missed it, DLLS Stars did a live emergency podcast to discuss all things Mikko Rantanen:

10:20 am

I jumped on the Kevin Karius show on Edmonton radio to chat about all the craziness over the past 12 hours and more.

Today on The @KevinKarius Show, Trade Deadline Edition, on @Sports1440

7:00 @Eddie_Steele97 🏈
7:20 @JasonGregor 🛢️
8:00 @SportsnetSpec 🎙️
8:40 In or Out ⁉️
9:00 @dingdish 🏒
9:20 @samnestler 🏒
10:20 @DownGoesBrown 🏒

Listen live on the AM dial or on https://t.co/9grc1RO4qK

— Brandon Douglas (@BDouglas1440) March 7, 2025

We talked Rantanen — the main point being: if he has been told by three contending teams (Colorado, Carolina, and Dallas) that he is not worth the $14 million he wants, it is time for Rantanen to make a very important decision…

Does he want to contend for a Cup for $12.5 million ish? Or is it more important to cash out the biggest value in this contract, even if that means playing for the Chicago Blackhawks?

It feels like the smarter move to go to a no state tax team that is expected to be a true contender and elite team for the next decade. Oh, and one full of fellow Finns. But clearly, the money is very important here. Nothing wrong with that.

We also talked about Johnston.

The 21-year-old is absolutely on fire right now and is playing himself into a bigger contract extension every night. Johnston is due a large raise this summer as a pending restricted free agent, one that is inching closer and closer to a $9 million+ AAV.

To me, Johnston is the next captain of the Dallas Stars. Worth every penny.

11:30 am

Sportsnet and Elliotte Friedman announce that the deal for Mikko Rantanan is getting very close — even going as far as to call it a trade alert — with an extension of 8 years, $12 million. There is no return yet.

If this number stays put, what a move by Jim Nill. To me, this shows that Rantanen chose the first option we discussed above: take a little less to play for a true Stanley Cup contender.

We are still waiting on the return and the “official” announcement…

If this is confirmed… look out!

• Robertson – Hintz – Rantanen 
• Marchment – Duchene – Seguin 
• Benn – Johnston – Granlund
• Dadonov – Steel – Bourque 
• Blackwell, Stankoven, Bäck

12:15 pm

The deal seems to coming into place.

Reportedly, Dallas will receive Mikko Rantanen in exchange for Logan Stankoven and two first-round picks, likely in 2026 and 2027. Now, they have added two third-round picks to the deal.

Rantanen gets a full no-move clause with his eight year, $96 million extension.

Welcome to Dallas, Mikko Rantanen #TexasHockey @DLLS_Stars https://t.co/EoIywLRUUf

— Sam Nestler (@samnestler) March 7, 2025

Again, I understand the emotion behind losing Stankoven. Us Dallas media members fully agree with that. He was always awesome to work with and talk to.

But maybe this move benefits him as well. He should get more opportunity in Carolina, and perhaps his scoring issues will not be as much of a problem in that system.

If Stankoven goes on to score 30-35 goals in a few years, the Stars will be happy with their elite forward and maybe even a Stanley Cup.

12:45 pm

Dallas placed Miro Heiskanen on long-term injured reserve to open up even more cap space.

2:00 pm

While we are all distracted by the Rantanen situation and deadline, the Stars did some quiet, excellent work elsewhere.

Dallas signed Wyatt Johnston to a five year, $42 million contract with an AAV of $8.4 million. Johnston was set to become an RFA this summer, so this move helps both the team and the player. The Stars lock up an important piece, and Johnston gets security and the chance to hit an even bigger extension with a higher salary cap in 2030.

The deadline has passed. But we are told by Stars PR and social media that there is something not officially done yet.

To me, that meant another trade was coming down. I scoured the trade targets, looking for which defenseman could make sense. It seemed like a necessary upgrade ahead of the playoffs…

3:00 pm

Crickets. More scouring.

4:00 pm

Stars PR comes in and starts to reorganize the press room ahead of us speaking to Jim Nill.

Nill walks in just a few minutes later — approximated 2:15 after the NHL trade deadline. And he informs us that the Rantanen trade and Johnston contract are the only news items of the day.

This may sound silly, because Dallas added a true superstar forward, but I was a bit disappointed with that. After moving Heiskanen to LTIR, and with the lack of depth we have seen lately on the blue line, it really felt like they were going to add.

Nill told us the Heiskanen move was to give them space if they could find a move that worked for them. It didn’t happen, and I have to wonder whether they were in on Henri Jokiharju until the final moments before he went to the Boston Bruins.

Nill was adamant that this caliber of player made it necessary to not only give up a key young player, but also depart with more high draft picks, despite him usually avoiding both during his tenure.

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What a day. Honestly, so much fun. And so much stress haha. But it was a big one for the Dallas Stars, who are a far better hockey team today than they were yesterday.

More to come about the deadline moves and more on DLLS, but be sure to check out the three hour deadline podcast we did earlier today!