The Carolina Hurricanes have become the talk of the NHL since they acquired star forward Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche. Since his arrival, however, Rantanen’s future with the Hurricanes has grown foggy.

The NHL trade deadline is fast approaching, and contenders across the league are trying to get the firepower that they need to make a push for the Stanley Cup. The Carolina Hurricanes tried to do that near the end of January when they traded for star winger Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche.

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Uncertainty persists over Mikko Rantanen's future with the Carolina Hurricanes during NHL trade deadline week.

It seems Carolina’s only focus right now is keeping Rantanen, whether as an extended player or worst case as a rental.

Ron Maclean: “You also, with Kyle, had a great conversation about Mikko Rantanen, and it was a little bit about the Cup possibility for Carolina. If they think it’s real, do they keep them and then lose them to free agency anyway? You go on, where are we at?

The NHL trade deadline is just under one week away, set for noon PST on Friday, March 7. The biggest story heading into this pivotal week of the season is the circumstances surrounding Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes.

After participating in the 4 Nations, Rantanen is facing questions about his future and adjusting to his new surroundings.

TSN: It’s still not known if Mikko Rantanen will want to partake in contract extension talks with the Carolina Hurricanes. Chris Johnston said that Rantanen’s camp are expected in the next few days to let the Hurricanes know how they’d like to proceed with things.

Amid insider Elliotte Friedman's report that the Carolina Hurricanes will not re-sign Mikko Rantanen to a contract extension before the trade deadline on March 7, it is clear the organization owes it to itself to explore a potential trade for the 28-year-old Finnish star,