As if the Carolina Hurricanes haven't had enough troubles as of late, new winger Mikko Rantanen will not play this afternoon against the Utah Hockey Club as the Finn has been ruled out with a lower-body injury.

Shortly after acquiring him, there appears to at least be a small chance that the Carolina Hurricanes trade Mikko Rantanen ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

Since being acquired Jan. 24 in a shocking trade that brought him and Taylor Hall to the Hurricanes and shipped out Martin Necas, Jack Drury and draft picks, Rantanen has one goal and one assist in six games, and he’s been unable to pull Carolina’s power play out of its funk.

The Carolina Hurricanes just brought in star Mikko Rantanen, but his tenure with the team may not last long. Carolina may be flipping Rantanen, per NHL Trade Rumors. The Hurricanes brought in the winger weeks ago from the Colorado Avalanche,

It’ll be hard to assess the impact of the Carolina Hurricanes’ acquisition of Mikko Rantanen for months, but a goal in his Lenovo Center debut doesn’t hurt.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Mikko Rantanen scored his first goal with Carolina, helping the Hurricanes beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Thursday night. Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin also scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the sixth time in seven games. Pyotr Kochetkov made 18 saves.

The Finnish winger, obtained in mega trade with the Colorado Avalanche, earned his first goal as a Hurricane, while fellow newcomer Taylor Hall was a late scratch with an illness.