By: Jenna Blake
10/12/2019
It finally happened. Mikko Rantanen finally signed. It happened on September 28th. Am I a couple of weeks late on this, yes! But better late than never. Anyway, I shall describe to you exactly how I found out. It was an autumnal evening. The sun was starting to go down. In the days before the 28th, there were talks that a contract was closing, but no mentions as to whose. I saw a notification from Twitter appear on my lock screen. It was Oakley saying,” MIKKO!”. I entered the Winebox group chat and asked what he meant by that. He then informed me that Mikko had signed. I gasped and scared my dad–I was thrilled. Everything was coming into place. We would start the season with our stellar and elite top line put together. When I got home, I then proceeded to play the famous Mikko Rantanen song. I danced and was truly happy.
“Everything was coming into place.”
You see the reason why this was an important date, was because it was a LONG time coming. I mean months. I thought for sure by July 1st of this past summer it would happen, but it did not. My own personal Twitter account became an attempt, a campaign, if you will, to get Joe Sakic to sign Mikko. It was my brand all summer. It went back and forth both ways. All RFA’s took a while to sign. Mikko was the last major one to finally sign. Other teams were interested in the winger, which was completely terrifying when when no solution seemed possible. So, when it was announced publicly that he had indeed signed, Avs nation was relieved.
Mikko signed a $55.5 million contract for six years ($9.25 million AAV). Mikko is now the highest paid Avalanche player currently, with Nathan Mackinnon now the 2nd highest paid. Mikko also is the 2nd highest annually paid player in Avalanche history. His GM still holds the 1st place spot. And the best part? When Mikko arrived, Gabe was there waiting for him with a welcome sign in the practice facility parking lot. Just in case you doubted Gabe (or the rest of the team’s) loyalty to their teammates.
But in all seriousness, I agree with this big of a salary. Not only has Mikko come into the NHL very nicely, he is also a big part of our top line’s success. I remember two years ago when people were saying that he was overrated. WOW! Y’ALL REALLY LOOK LIKE CLOWNS NOW! From the beginning, I knew he was special; he just needed some time to grow as a player. He has already made an impact this season–he has already had 3 goals and 2 apples in 3 games. And lucky for all Avalanche fans, he is here to stay! Congrats to the Big Moose! We can’t wait to see what else he has in store for us.