As we creep up on the NHL trade deadline on March 7 more than a few star players are looking to the future for lucrative contract extensions or lest

The Oilers come into a much-anticipated matchup on a hot streak. Connor McDavid. Nathan MacKinnon. Leon Draisaitl. Mikko Rantanen.

Connor McDavid will lead the Edmonton Oilers against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena, Denver in back-to-back games after playing the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.

Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen has been one of the top-scoring players in the NHL over the past several seasons. His contract is set to expire this summer, making him arguably the top pending UFA in the league. Colorado has been trying to re-sign him but to this point, obviously no deal has been reached yet.

The Edmonton Oilers are in town for a Western Conference matchup as the Colorado Avalanche continue their five-game homestand. The Oilers will play their second game of a back-to-back tonight after taking a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Wild.

While everyone is talking about Mitch Marner and John Tavares with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the other member of the “Big Three” free agents this summer is Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche.  Like the others listed above,

The Wild held two separate leads before falling to Connor McDavid and the Oilers, losing Marcus Johansson along the way.

TSN analyst Martin Biron picked the field over Connor McDavid for the Hart Trophy on SC with Jay Onrait. McDavid, on course for over 120 points, could join Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Phil Esposito and Marcel Dionne with four straight 120-point seasons.

A weekly gauge of the players who are controlling substantial buzz around the league. When a player is included on this list it may not be a good thing -- it means that they are capturing a large amount of the hockey world's attention.

Rantanen helped out on a Logan O'Connor goal in the first period. The 28-year-old Rantanen has six goals and four helpers over 10 contests since the holiday break. He took a turn as the second ...

The Oilers won 4-1 in the last matchup. TOP PERFORMERS: Mikko Rantanen has 25 goals and 36 assists for the Avalanche. Artturi Lehkonen has six goals over the past 10 games. Evan Bouchard has seven ...

The Edmonton Oilers visit the Colorado Avalanche after Connor McDavid scored two goals in the Oilers' 5-3 win over the Minnesota Wild.