Mark Kiszla, columnist

Answer: What, are you crazy?

Crazy like a fox. This was never a debate. The Avs won this trade from Day One. 

When the Avalanche dealt away Rantanen in January 2025, distraught Colorado fans and grumpy media members alike squawked their bloody fool heads off like it was hockey Armageddon.

Don’t y’all feel foolish now?

Mikko was — and is — a splendid player with all-star bona fides. He’s also a righteous dude. But Rantanen had to go. For two reasons: He had become more obsessed with getting top dollar than winning another Stanley Cup with his buddies in Colorado. And the Avs would’ve been foolish to exacerbate their secondary scoring woes by caving to his contract demands, while making their roster even more top heavy in the process.

Let’s fast forward nine months from that winter day when the sky allegedly fell on the Avs. Have you checked the NHL standings or statistics? Colorado is a juggernaut that almost literally can’t be beaten. And who was the top-line player received in return for Rantanen? Oh, yeah. Martin Necas. In addition to tallying more goals than Rantanen at this point in the season, he is more than two years younger.

Hmm, there could be advantages to being Nathan MacKinnon’s wingman.

Last I looked, there’s a salary cap in the NHL. At $12 million per year, there’s no way Rantanen is twice as valuable as Necas, whose cap hit is $6.5 million. 

Did the Avs win the Rantanen trade? Absolutely. There was never a doubt. I hate to tell you I told you so. But I told you so.

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Evan Rawal, Avalanche beat reporter

Answer: Talk to me after the playoffs.

For as good as Martin Necas and Jack Drury have been for the Avalanche, Mikko Rantanen has provided the Dallas Stars with something they haven’t had in years — a game breaker. The Avalanche, unfortunately, learned that the hard way last May. Is Mikko frustrating to watch at times? Absolutely. Has he gone a little berserk over the last two weeks by throwing some dangerous hits? Apparently.

But one area where Rantanen can be counted on is the postseason. He sits ninth all-time — yes, all-time — in points per game in the postseason with 1.242. As for Martin Necas? He’s been better the last three years but still hasn’t surpassed a point-per-game in a single postseason run, let alone multiple. In the playoffs, you need your big dogs to be big dogs. If Necas takes that step this year, the pendulum flips in the direction of the Avalanche when it comes to the trade. But Necas must show he can do that.

The Avalanche are a wagon right now. One of the reasons why? The flexibility afforded to them via the Rantanen trade. It doesn’t look like any team can slow them down. The team right behind them in the standings in the NHL? Those pesky Dallas Stars. They just won’t go away. Is it a stretch to believe these two teams are going to meet again in the postseason? Not at all.

Chris MacFarland’s goal is not to be the best team in the league during the regular season. The postseason is all that matters for the Avalanche and Stars, and that’s ultimately what will determine the winner of the Rantanen trade. Necas lifting Lord Stanley would be the one thing that would officially slam the door shut on anyone’s ability to re-litigate this trade.