The Avalanche have pulled off a stunner. Mikko Rantanen is heading to the Carolina Hurricanes in a stunning and complex Friday night deal also involving the Chicago Blackhawks.

Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky is explaining his reasons for pushing for Mikko Rantanen, in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche. Carolina engaged in a trade with the Avalanche, as well as Chicago on Friday. The end result is that Rantanen is now a Hurricane.

The trade is a stunning midseason swap of point-per-game players in their primes, an anomaly in the NHL trade market in the salary-cap era.