Let’s take a trip back in time to March 7, 2025 — a day so consequential that it paved the way for the next two Stanley Cup champions, significantly changing the balance of power atop the NHL.

Just minutes before the trade deadline that afternoon, the Florida Panthers acquired Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins, solidifying their forward group for an eventual Cup-winning run that spring. As impactful as the Marchand trade was, it wasn’t even close to the biggest deal of the day. That crown goes to a trade that happened hours earlier, in which the Carolina Hurricanes sent Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars for Logan Stankoven and a boatload of draft picks.

The deal sent shockwaves throughout the hockey world that are still being felt today. Rantanen helped the Stars complete a legendary Game 7 comeback against the Colorado Avalanche a few months after the trade, and Stankoven was a key contributor to Carolina’s Stanley Cup victory the following year.

It makes one wonder what the NHL would look like today if the Rantanen trade never happened. After all, the Stars weren’t the only suitors. The morning after the trade, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported that the Edmonton Oilers had taken a “huge swing” at Rantanen and were deep into extension talks with his camp. They just couldn’t reach an agreement with the Hurricanes.

That summer, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Carolina had expressed interest in Evan Bouchard during Rantanen trade discussions. The Oilers elected not to trade Bouchard and couldn’t come up with an alternative package to get a deal done.

But what if the Oilers did pull the trigger on a Rantanen trade?........

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