The Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks got together on Friday night and gave us one of the biggest blockbuster trades in recent NHL memory.

The details are as follows:

It is a deal that can completely shift the balance of power in the Eastern Conference -perhaps the NHL as a whole - and could significantly impact which teams go on deep playoff runs and win the Stanley Cup.

So now that the trade it is in the books, let's take a look at some of the biggest winners and losers from the deal.

Winner: Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes have been knocking on the door of the Stanley Cup Final for years, but have been unable to kick through it.

The one thing that has consistently held them back has been the lack of a bonafide, top-line superstar, a player that can put the team on their back and carry it offensively.

Carolina has always had an outstanding roster with good players throughout. They rarely have a major weakness. Sebastian Aho is an All-Star. The defense has always been great. The structure has always been there. But it has always been a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Who is going to be the star here and step forward?

Rantanen is that type of player.

He is one of the best offensive players in the world, and entering play on Friday was sixth in the NHL in scoring this season and is one of the top-five scorers in the league over the past five years.

Carolina is taking a risk here given that Rantanen is an unrestricted free agent after this season and there is always a chance he'd leave the Hurricanes with nothing.

But if it produces a Stanley Cup, nobody in Raleigh will care about any of that. This is a franchise that is facing pressure to win it all, and adding Rantanen (not to mention Taylor Hall) is the type of trade that can help make that happen as soon as this season.

Loser: Other Eastern Conference Contenders

This trade is a huge shot across the bow of the Eastern Conference.

Specifically, the other teams in the Metropolitan Division that might now have to face Carolina in the playoffs, including the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals.

Carolina was always going to be a handful for any of them to play, and now they added a top-line talent that will make them an even more formidable opponent. It sends a clear message to the rest of the NHL that the Hurricanes are thinking Stanley Cup or bust this season, and it will put even more pressure on teams like the Rangers or Devils to add something over the next few weeks.

Winner: Taylor Hall

Hall has to feel like he has won the lottery here or at least something close to it.

He gets to leave a rebuilding Chicago team that is going nowhere this season and join one of the NHL's best teams for a potential championship run.

He might not be the MVP-level player he was in his prime, but the Hurricanes do not need him to be that.

If he can give them some competent middle-six production that is a win for them.

It is also a win for Hall as he gets another chance to go back to the playoffs and chase a championship.

He has only appeared in 39 playoff games in his career, but he has 14 goals and 29 total points in those games. He was outstanding for the Boston Bruins during his most recent postseason appearance in the 2022-23 season.

Loser: Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson

On one hand, Hall didn't have a ton of trade value. There should have been no delusions as to what they would get back in return He is a pending free agent, he has been injured, he has not been good and he still carried a $6 million salary cap number. They were never getting a top prospect or a high draft pick here.

A third-round pick is probably fair for Hall on his own.

But the Blackhawks didn't just trade Hall.

They also did both Colorado and Carolina a favor by taking on half of Rantanen's remaining salary and got nothing for the trouble.

That is just a poor use of a salary retention spot, it is a poor use of open salary cap space, and it all seems like a giant waste of time.

They could and should have done better here.

Winner: Colorado Avalanche

Is Martin Necas or Jack Drury better than Mikko Rantanen? Absolutely not.

In that sense, there is a small step backward here for the Avalanche.

But that does not mean this is a total loss for Colorado or anything close to that.

While neither player is an upgrade, Necas is no slouch as a player and is on a 90-point pace for this season. He will get an opportunity to play in a system that might be more tailored to his skillset and allow him to reach an entirely new level offensively. He also gives Colorado the added flexibility of having a player that is under contract for next season (they were likely to lose Rantanen in free agency) at a very fair salary ($6 million against the salary cap), and helps create some additional salary cap flexibility for this season.

The addition of two draft picks also gives Colorado some much-needed trade chips to potentially flip over the next few weeks.

There is no way the Avalanche are done making moves before the deadline. They will still be in this, and they have options.

Loser: Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks weren't even involved in this trade and they still end up as a loser.

And that is the point -- they missed the boat.

They have been trying to trade one of J.T. Miller or Elias Pettersson for weeks and Carolina was one of the teams in the mix. All of that changed when Carolina switched its focus to Colorado and Rantanen, and now the Canucks are back to square one trying to figure out what to do with a season that is starting to slip away from them.

It is going to be extremely difficult for them to win a Pettersson trade given his age, upside and production, and there aren't a lot of teams that are going to be in the market for Miller given his contract.

Maybe they can get the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils into a bidding war for Miller so they can respond to the Rantanen addition by Carolina? But honestly, it seems like their only real option for Miller is the Rangers, and they may not have much leverage there.