BOSTON — There have been some significant “what ifs” in the aftermath of the Avalanche’s run to the Stanley Cup in 2022, but there’s a new one near the top of the list. What if Gabe Landeskog’s knee hadn’t failed him? What if Valeri Nichushkin’s personal demons hadn’t led to him leaving the team in the playoffs for two straight years? What if the salary cap hadn’t stagnated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? The new debate for Avs fans and hockey folks around the world: What if Colorado re-signed Mikko Rantanen? It will likely take years to determine if the decision to move on was correct. “It was an Earth-shifting hockey trade,” said Craig Button, a TSN analyst and former NHL general manager. “I don’t know if the Rocky Mountains moved, but it certainly shook a lot of snow free.” The Avs traded Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes for Martin Necas and Jack Drury on Friday, one of the two or three most impactful transactions for the club since it arrived in Denver. Rantanen has the fourth-most points in the NHL over the past four-plus years, and will almost certainly be one of the three highest-paid players in the league when next season begins. Chris MacFarland pointed to Rantanen’s pending free agency and the club’s desire to get deeper after three years of being short in that department as reasons for the trade. The NHL’s salary cap ceiling, which is set at $88 million this year but is expected to rise — possibly significantly — in the next couple of seasons is also a factor. Could the Avs have still found a deal that was acceptable for Rantanen and allowed them to improve their depth for next season and beyond? MacFarland’s decision says the Avalanche did not think so. “One of the areas where it’s clear is we’re not deep enough,” MacFarland said. “And I think that you got to be, you got to be deep to go four rounds. Hopefully, this is going to help that. Obviously, Mikko … he’s a superstar. You can’t replace that. But he’s a superstar who earned the right to be a free agent. “The cap is going to go up, but you still have to do your internal outlooks. For next year, we still have a serious unknown (with captain Gabe Landeskog). We don’t have that information today. We have to operate in many different lenses and look at it from many different perspectives. That’s certainly one of them.” There have been reports that Rantanen’s camp wanted a deal similar to the one Leon Draisaitl signed in September — eight years, $14 million per season. That’s the richest deal in the league. Draisaitl’s teammate, three-time Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid, is at $12.5 million through the end of next season. Nathan MacKinnon, the reigning league MVP, is at $12.6 million … but through 2031. That is an important distinction, but that doesn’t mean everyone agrees with Colorado’s decision to move on. “We’re talking about one of the NHL’s very best players in Mikko Rantanen,” Button said. “If it comes down to they weren’t going to pay him more than Nathan MacKinnon … if that’s the stake you want to put in the ground, that’s fine. “If that was the rationale — and I can’t see it being anything other than that — I still don’t see how you trade a superstar like that.” MacKinnon, who said he was shocked by the trade after Colorado’s 3-1 loss Saturday at the Boston Bruins, also addressed the financial ramifications of another player potentially making more money than him. “I don’t care,” MacKinnon said. “For a long time, I don’t know if I was top-five on the team. Anyone who really knows me knows I really don’t care about money. It’s the last thing on my mind. Whoever is up, I mean, if Cale (Makar) is up, who knows he could get $20 (million per season). “I want guys to get paid. I think he’s earned it. Mikko has earned a big payday.” The Avs and Hurricanes engaged in discussions about Necas and Rantanen as far back as June, a league source told The Denver Post. Carolina had a member of its management team at the Avalanche game in New Jersey in early December. MacFarland noted Necas’ age, speed, skill and that he’s cost-controlled through next season as reasons for acquiring him. The Avs will have Necas and Drury at $8.225 million next season, which could be $5 million less than Rantanen on his own. “(Rantanen) is a unique superstar,” Button said. “There are superstars in this league, but this guy is unique. He does it all. Martin Necas is a really good player but he’s not in the class of Mikko Rantanen. Do I think the Colorado Avalanche are better today with Necas and without Rantanen? I don’t. “Does that mean that they’re done? No. Chris MacFarland has shown to be very aware and alert to possibilities that are out there. He wasn’t afraid to trade Bo Byram. He wasn’t afraid to trade Rantanen. He won’t be hesitant to make significant trades that he feels can improve the team, and there’s room and time for him to do it again. I just don’t see the Avalanche as a better team than they were yesterday.” Related Articles Colorado Avalanche | Stunned Nathan MacKinnon after Avalanche’s Mikko Rantanen trade: “It just sucks” Colorado Avalanche | David Pastrnak stars as Bruins beat Avalanche 3-1 a day after the Rantanen trade Colorado Avalanche | Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland on Mikko Rantanen trade: “A bittersweet day” Colorado Avalanche | Keeler: Avalanche trade of Mikko Rantanen to Carolina raises red flags. And a very big white one Colorado Avalanche | The 10 biggest trades in Colorado sports history after Avs trade Mikko Rantanen to Carolina That question — Are the Avs better after this trade? — was posed to MacFarland on Saturday. What he and the Avs can do, both before the March 7 trade deadline and this offseason, will play a big part in the future discourse about Colorado’s latest “what if.” “You lose a superstar, so we’re going to have to try and replace him in the aggregate,” MacFarland said. “Fifty-goal scorers don’t grow on trees. You have to usually draft and develop them and Mikko was a home run for us for many, many years. So I’m not going to sit here and say we’re not going to miss him. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about that. “Now, we look forward. We’re super excited to be able to get a guy who is top-12 in the league in scoring, who is 26 and what we feel is an emerging player in Jack Drury who’s cost controlled. I think we’re going to have to do it in the aggregate down the stretch and next year and we’ll go from there.” Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.