© Jerome Miron/Imagn
Any sports fan or high-level athlete knows just how important wearing a specific number can be for a player. Oftentimes, when a star player joins a new team, they’ll have to offer up a lucrative deal to a new teammate in order to secure their personal favorite number. The situation was no different for NHL All-Star Mikko Rantanen when he joined the Carolina Hurricanes in a blockbuster trade from Colorado Avalanche.
Rantanen, who wore number 96 with the Avs, wanted to wear the same number with the Canes. But Carolina center Jack Roslovic already wore number 96. So in order to pry the number away, Rantanen purchased Roslovic a Rolex watch along with a custom 925-silver chain which was handmade by a Finnish master goldsmith, according to Ryan Henkel of the Hockey News. The watch is valued at over $10,000 USD, so it was a pretty penny for Rantanen to pay.
Mikko Rantanen Buys $10,000 Watch For Less Than 15 Games Wearing Number 96
That alone seems like a pretty sweet deal. But it quickly got much sweeter. Colorado traded Rantanen to Carolina because the two sides could not agree on a long-term contact. However, Carolina did not agree to a long-term deal with Rantanen either before the trade was completed.
Once it became clear that Rantanen intended to enter free agency, the Hurricanes began looking for trade partners of their own. Carolina traded Rantanen to the Dallas Stars just prior to Friday’s NHL trade deadline in yet another blockbuster move.
In total, Roslovic played just 14 games before switching back to No. 96 and he was able to keep both the chains and the Rolex watch. As for Rantnanen, he agreed to a 8-year, $96 million contract extension with the Dallas Stars. So he won’t be hurting for money anytime soon. But Roslovic still made out like a bandit in this one.