BOSTON -- As Chris MacFarland wrapped up his remarks Saturday, as he explained the forces that had caused him to send forward Mikko Rantanen across the country from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes, a blockbuster trade that shook the franchise and fanbase, he uttered the words that were at the bottom of everything.

Colorado Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland says trading Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes was a "tough business decision,' calling the star winger a "superstar human being."

I think it was just a tough business decision here for us," MacFarland said Saturday before the Avalanche faced the Boston Bruins. “I felt that the pieces we got made sense to strike now.” Colorado traded Rantanen in a three-team deal to Carolina a night earlier,

Chris MacFarland said Mikko Rantanen’s pending free agency, need for more depth were biggest factors in seismic move.

Chris MacFarland did the latter Friday night. The Avalanche did not want to trade Mikko Rantanen. No one ever wants to trade a 50-goal scorer. That's why trades of this magnitude rarely occur. But when your hand is forced,

On Friday, the Colorado Avalanche and the Carolina Hurricanes pulled off one of the biggest trades in modern National Hockey League history when star winger Mikko Rantanen was sent packing by the Avalanche and welcomed with open arms by the Hurricanes.