The Avalanche played their first game in the post-Mikko Rantanen era. How did they do? Also, Jared Bednar and Nathan MacKinnon were open and honest about their thoughts on the trade. So was another former teammate,

The trade that saw the superstar dealt to Carolina sent shockwaves through the league and up and down the Colorado franchise.

Following a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, the first game without Rantanen, Avs superstar Nathan MacKinnon sat down in the locker room with reporters and reminisced on his old friend and former teammate.

Jared Bednar has been known to rely heavily ... Two, the Avalanche's big trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to Carolina Friday brought in additional depth. Martin Necas has stepped in and fit in ...

As much as the Colorado Avalanche would've liked to cap off this whirlwind of a road trip on a positive note, they failed to do so. The team, which looks a little different having replaced Mikko Rantanen with Martin Necas and Jack Drury,

After the trade happened, MacKinnon said he spoke to Cale Makar and Gabriel Landeskog, who is on the trip, as leaders of the team. They weren't the only players on the team shocked, as a night where a lot of the team was planning on going to bed early changed on a dime.

Mikko Rantanen is now with the Carolina Hurricanes, something he did not envision happening. He was discussing a contract extension with the Colorado Avalanche before the surprise move. He admitted he was willing to take less than his market value to stay. Via Athlon Sports, the winger said:

When the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers get together, there’s an overflow of offensive firepower available.

Jared Bednar got hired to coach the Avalanche just as the NHL entered its last best-on-best tournament in the 2016 World Cup. So in a sense, the 4 Nations Faceoff is uncharted territory for him.

The trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes surprised many people, including the player himself.

The Colorado Avalanche looks like the better team for the better part of the first 40 minutes and then the final period is a problem. Colorado had all kinds of chances in the first two periods Tuesday night at UBS Arena,