Gabriel Landeskog’s long-awaited return to NHL action remains uncertain, and Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland confirmed so on Sunday.

Colorado parted with Rantanen in a three-team deal on Friday, shipping him off to Carolina while acquiring forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury and two draft picks.

Facing the prospect of Colorado’s star winger Mikko Rantanen becoming an unrestricted free agent after this season, general manager Chris MacFarland felt the timing was right to deal him away and bolster the Avalanche’s roster for the future.

If the Avalanche had opened up a good old-fashioned bidding war on Mikko Rantanen, here are teams that would have been the best fit.

The Toronto Maple Leafs likely saw the deal stuck between the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes for Mikko Rantanen and asked themselves if they were playing their situation with Mitch Marner the right way.

It may be the biggest in-season trade in the salary cap era since the Boston Bruins shipped Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks almost 20 years ago. As pundits and fans assess the fallout, the Rantanen trade had an immediate effect on the NHL trade market.

Cale Makar scored twice and set up the tiebreaking goal by Artturi Lehkonen with 15 seconds remaining as the revamped Colorado Avalanche blew a pair of two-goal leads before earning a dramatic 5-4 victory over the host New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon.

Artturi Lehkonen scored the tiebreaking goal with 14.7 seconds left and Mackenzie Blackwood made 33 saves as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the New York Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.