Rantanen dealt to Dallas, lands 8-year contract; Panthers add Marchand at NHL trade deadline

Mikko Rantanen went back West — but with the Dallas Stars this time following a brief stint in Carolina. And Bruins captain Brad Marchand is leaving Boston after 16 seasons to join the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

Several major names with high-priced contracts, as well as four first-round draft picks, moved around the NHL before the trade deadline struck on Friday.

Central Division teams were the most active, with Dallas, Colorado and Winnipeg all completing significant trades.

The Ottawa Senators made a splash with two major trades, acquiring Dylan Cozens from Buffalo and Fabian Zetterlund from San Jose, to spur their late-season push to snap a seven-year playoff drought.

Meantime, Marchand’s departure in Boston, coupled with Charlie Coyle’s trade to Colorado, signaled the Bruins' transition toward youth while mired in a 1-6-2 skid that has them in jeopardy off missing the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade.

The Stars paid a big price in both contract and assets to land Rantanen, the deadline’s biggest prize, dealing promising rookie forward Logan Stankoven and two first-round and two third-round picks as part of a blockbuster deal. Dallas also agreed to an eight-year, $96 million contract with the high-scoring Finn after both the Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche failed in their attempts to sign him to a long-term deal.

“The chance to acquire and extend one of the best forwards in the NHL is an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said. “He demonstrates exceptional skill and vision on the ice and his size, consistency and versatility make him one of the most complete players in the League.

Rantanen was in the final year of a six-year contract and on the move for the second time in two months after Colorado traded him to Carolina, where he played just 13 games.

“Obviously a really good team in Carolina. ... But I think just the fit in Dallas,” Rantanen said on TSN in Canada. “I’ve played against Dallas a lot. I know they have a good team. I know the city well enough and everything there,. So at the end of the day, it was easy.”

The Stars add a proven playoff performer who played a key role in Colorado winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. He has 101 points in 81 postseason games — an average seventh in league history behind only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Messier.

The Central-leading Jets acquired forward Brandon Tanev by sending a 2027 second-round pick to Seattle. Winnipeg bolstered its blue line by adding Luke Schenn in a trade with Pittsburgh.

Colorado didn't stand pat, landing Coyle after acquiring veteran center Brock Nelson in a trade with the New York Islanders late Thursday.

The Panthers had room in adding the 36-year-old Marchand to an already stacked lineup after freeing up salary cap space with Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reseve.

“His record speaks for itself. We’re thrilled to have him on board,” Panthers GM Bill Zito said of Marchand, who won the Cup with Boston in 2011.

The Bruins, meantime, began looking toward youth and the future.

Boston acquired a conditional 2027 second-round draft pick that turns into a first-rounder based on Marchand’s playing time. In dealing the 33-year-old Coyle to Colorado, the Bruins landed 26-year-old center Casey Mittelstadt, a prospect and a 2025 second-round pick. They also acquired Buffalo defenseman Henry Jokiharju for a fourth-round selection.

“We didn’t burn it down. We have a lot of guys. Now we have to do a better job of building around it and charting a course that says we’re back,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said. “We’re trying to put things in a position where we’re right back in a competitive situation next year.”

Some teams found the asking prices far too expensive at a time when six teams in the Eastern Conference and three in the West are within five points of a playoff spot with six weeks left in the season.

“There were more teams who were buyers then there were sellers, that’s for sure,” Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell said. “When you’re in demand like that, especially the bigger teams — you see what Colorado and Dallas did — they all wanted to make the additions that they thought would give them a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup.”

Waddell made one trade, acquiring Luke Kunin from San Jose, with Columbus entering Friday sitting in a wild-card spot in the East.

“The market’s always tough to read,” Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin said. “But with so many teams still involved, you could see some of the players that got moved, the prices were high.”

In Carolina, general manager Eric Tulsky was pleased with the return the Hurricanes received for Rantanen, while noting he ran out of time in a bid to flip some of the assets acquired for a player. He did manage one addition, acquiring forward Mark Jankowski for sending a fifth-round pick to Nashville.

In other moves:

— The Stars also locked up three-time 20-goal scorer Wyatt Johnston, who is only 21, to a five-year $42 million contract extension. Dallas also placed defenseman Miro Heiskanen — listed as month to month after knee surgery — on long-term injured reserve.

— The Flyers dealt veteran forward Scott Laughton to Toronto and agreed to retain 50% of his salary for rookie forward Nikita Grebenkin and a conditional 2027 first-round pick. Philadelphia also traded Andrei Kuzmenko with a seventh-round pick to the Los Angeles Kings for a third-rounder, five weeks after acquiring him from Calgary in a multiplayer deal.

— The Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals acquired winger Anthony Beauvillier from rival Pittsburgh for a 2025 second-round pick.

— Edmonton improved its defense by landing Jake Walman in a deal in which San Jose acquired a conditional first-round pick and center Carl Berglund.

AP Sports Writers Jimmy Golen and Alanis Thames and freelance writer Denis Gorman contributed.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Carolina Hurricanes' Jordan Staal (11) battles for the puck with Boston Bruins' Charlie Coyle (13) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

FILE - Ottawa Senators' Josh Norris (9) celebrates a goal by Shane Pinto (12), not shown, during second period NHL hockey action against the Washington Capitals in Ottawa, on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Buffalo Sabres center Dylan Cozens (24) skates with the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals in Buffalo, N.Y., Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus, File)

San Jose Sharks forward Luke Kunin (11) is taken down by Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins, left, during third-period NHL hockey game action in Toronto, Monday, March 3, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP

Chicago Blackhawks center Ryan Donato looks on during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks, Saturday, March 1, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Carolina Hurricanes' Mikko Rantanen (96) protests against a penalty with an official during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's photo portrait display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document U.S. history.

The wall text, which summarized Trump's first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum's “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.

The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”

Trump's original “portrait label," as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump's Supreme Court nominations and his administration's development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”

Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”

Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump's “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”

The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents' painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump's display.

Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.

Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.

The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok's work.

“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”

For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.

And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”

Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents U.S. history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation's development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.

In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery's director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian's governing board, but she ultimately resigned.

At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.

The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump's two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden's autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”

Barrow reported from Atlanta.

People react to a photograph of President Donald Trump on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery walk past the portrait of President Donald Trump, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors stop to look at a photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

A photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)