DALLAS – Before establishing himself as the most dominant player in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, Mikko Rantanen wasn`t quite playing like himself.
“I think this year has been such a whirlwind for him that it took him some time to get comfortable with us,” commented Dallas defenseman Brendan Smith.
In his four previous NHL seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, Rantanen ranked fifth in goals (163) and seventh in points per game (1.27) among all players. He was performing at a similar elite level this season, with 25 goals and a 1.31 points-per-game average for the Avalanche.
However, after 49 games, his circumstances drastically changed.
Rantanen was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on January 24 as part of a three-team deal. Following 13 unspectacular games and his stated intent not to sign an extension with Carolina before becoming an unrestricted free agent, Rantanen was traded again to the Dallas Stars before the March 7 NHL trade deadline. He subsequently signed an eight-year extension with Dallas, finally providing stability after a turbulent period.
He performed below his career averages in 20 regular-season games with Dallas (five goals, 0.90 points per game). His playoff start was also quiet, with just one assist through four games against his former Colorado teammates in the first round.
Fans and media questioned his performance: Was this level of play worth a contract valued at $96 million through 2032-33, including a full no-movement clause? Could Rantanen achieve elite numbers without the support of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who were key to his production in Colorado? Would he uphold his reputation as a playoff performer, having ranked fourth in postseason points (62 in 48 games) since 2020?
The question loomed: Who exactly was Mikko Rantanen in this new environment?
“When you think about his journey this year, he`s been through a lot,” noted Dallas coach Pete DeBoer. “There`s been a lot written about him. There`s been a lot said about him. There`s been a lot of doubters out there, based on the situations he`s been in and how it`s looked at different points.”
His teammates observed Rantanen struggling to find his rhythm.
“It`s an interesting profession where you can be great, but then you get put in a different situation, and all of a sudden you`re trying to figure out camaraderie, where you fit, all these little things,” Smith explained. “I`m not sure if it really fit with Carolina. And then with us, he was still trying to work and find out where he fit.”
And now?
“Now, he looks comfortable,” Smith added with a laugh.
Since Game 5 against the Avalanche, Rantanen has recorded 18 points in seven games – five of which were Dallas victories. The Stars have pushed the Winnipeg Jets to the brink of elimination, holding a 3-1 lead in their second-round series and seeking a third consecutive trip to the Western Conference finals.
“I`m trying to stay in the moment. I`m happy to help the team and try to keep doing that as much as I can, both ends of the ice,” Rantanen stated. “But [stay] even keel after wins and good games.”
As of Tuesday night, Rantanen led all scorers in the postseason with 19 points in 11 games. He is the first player in NHL history to achieve five three-point games within a team`s first 10 playoff games in a single postseason. He also set another NHL record by scoring or assisting on 13 consecutive goals for his team. At one point, Rantanen had contributed to 15 out of 16 goals scored by Dallas.
“He`s just getting started. He`s just warming up here,” DeBoer remarked after the Stars` Game 3 win against Winnipeg. “I think he`s on a mission.”
The 2015 NHL Draft Class
The 2015 NHL Draft class was exceptionally talented. The Avalanche watched players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Noah Hanifin, Zach Werenski, and Timo Meier selected before drafting Rantanen, an 18-year-old winger competing against adults in Finland`s SM-liiga.
Over the subsequent 10 seasons, Rantanen became the second-highest goal scorer from that draft class (294), trailing only McDavid (361), a three-time MVP and five-time scoring champion. His synergy with MacKinnon significantly contributed to both players` offensive dominance. In his two consecutive 100-point seasons with the Avalanche in 2022-23 and 2023-24, approximately 75% of Rantanen`s total ice time was alongside MacKinnon.
“He helped grow this organization into a Stanley Cup winner and a contender every single season. He`s a big reason why,” MacKinnon acknowledged.
During Colorado`s 2022 Stanley Cup championship run, Rantanen accumulated 25 points in 20 games.
Rantanen signed a six-year extension in 2019 with a substantial average annual value of $9.25 million. MacKinnon surpassed this with his 2022 extension, carrying a $12.6 million AAV. As Rantanen approached unrestricted free agency in Summer 2025, two main questions arose for the Avalanche: his salary demands and their implications for the team`s salary structure, considering MacKinnon`s earnings and Makar`s future contract expiring in 2027.
Rantanen was hopeful that a resolution would be reached during the season to keep him with the Avalanche.
“It was a weird situation overall. Negotiations were going on with Colorado. Six weeks before the deadline, we were negotiating,” he recollected. “I felt at that time that I needed to go talk to the front office, face to face. I told them I`ll be flexible. That I want to play here for a long time.”
“Then a couple days later, they traded me. So that was emotional.”
The Hurricanes sent forward Martin Necas, their leading scorer at the time, to Colorado as part of the package for Rantanen. When the Hurricanes contacted Rantanen before the trade to explore a potential sign-and-trade, he informed them his priority was to remain in Colorado.
“They still did the trade. That was their decision,” he said.
He described his initial days with Carolina as “shocking.” Rantanen asserted he joined the Hurricanes with an open mind, but after a few weeks, he didn`t feel at home. This included adjusting to coach Rod Brind`amour`s system and the team`s playing style, finding where he fit in.
Rantanen has denied speculation that he arrived in Raleigh with a list of preferred trade destinations. He also stated that reports of it being “a family decision” not to sign long-term in Raleigh were inaccurate. “It was a hockey decision at the end of the day and nothing else,” he confirmed.
Rantanen provided Carolina GM Eric Tulsky with a short list of possible trade destinations, should they prefer not to keep him as a free-agent rental who would leave for nothing in the summer.
Dallas GM Jim Nill mentioned that the Hurricanes initiated exploratory calls about two weeks before the trade deadline.
“We were one of the teams they called to see if there was interest, and then with about a week to 10 days before the trade deadline, we said, `You know what? Let`s look at it,` but still not thinking that was the direction we were going to go,” Nill stated.
Ultimately, that became the direction they pursued, sending promising young forward Logan Stankoven and four draft picks to the Hurricanes to acquire Rantanen.
Just as things had changed dramatically for Rantanen, they suddenly shifted for the Stars as well.
“It definitely changes things when you have a guy like that, a star player. It changes the identity of your team,” DeBoer acknowledged.
“I think we`ve been built around four lines and waves of pressure and work. Probably more like a Carolina-type identity. I think when you add a player like that, you have to take on a little bit of a different identity,” the coach explained. “You have to coach your team a little bit differently. You have to get him out there more. So I think that`s the challenge is to integrate him and build around that without losing what`s made us successful here.”
Rantanen`s postseason dominance is directly linked to him finally feeling at ease in Dallas.
Being among familiar faces helped.
The Finnish Connection
Before Game 4 against the Winnipeg Jets, the Stars` social media published a photo of five players with the caption, “For the first time, our new Finnish Mafia is at full strength.”
Rantanen (born in Nousiainen) stood smiling between forward Roope Hintz (Tampere) and defenseman Miro Heiskanen (Espoo). Alongside them were center Mikael Granlund (Oulu) and defenseman Esa Lindell (Vantaa).
That 3-1 win marked the first game where all five Dallas Finns played together. Heiskanen had been sidelined with a knee injury before Granlund was acquired from the San Jose Sharks in February, and Rantanen arrived at the deadline. Alongside goalie Jake Oettinger, the Finns proved decisive: Granlund scored a hat trick in the win, with assists from Rantanen and a returning Heiskanen, who had hoped the Finnish 5 could play together at some point.
“We`ll see if they put us together there,” Heiskanen said. “That would be nice. Maybe next game.”
Rantanen played most of his time with Hintz after joining from Carolina but only spent 6:55 with Granlund at 5-on-5 in the regular season. That changed in the playoffs, where 65% of Rantanen`s even-strength ice time has been with Granlund as his center.
“It`s great to be on the same side, for sure,” Granlund commented. “We all can see what he`s doing out there right now. He`s such a great player, and he`s playing at a really high level.”
The line consisting of Hintz, Rantanen, and Granlund has a plus-3 goal differential and an on-ice shooting percentage of 15.4%.
Smith mentioned that the Stars players were anticipating DeBoer uniting the Finnish players.
“We were talking about it for a couple weeks: Put the Finns together and let them deal with it,” Smith said. “Let them get angry at each other, let them be happy with each other, let them deal with the situation. And finally Pete did it. And, like I said, Mikko now looks comfortable.”
That line is one reason behind Rantanen`s record-setting scoring pace in the playoffs. The Stars` power play is another, where he has contributed two goals and four assists, with the unit operating at a 32.4% conversion rate.
Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel noted that defending Rantanen has become tougher with that line performing well.
“He maybe doesn`t get enough credit for how well he does make plays and that line is certainly dangerous,” he said. “He`s a big man and he had the puck a lot. Again, the biggest thing is time and space. I know that you hear that a lot in hockey, but at the end of the day, the more he holds onto [the puck], the more he`s comfortable, the harder it is to deny what he`s trying to do next.”
What Rantanen aims to do next is fulfill his mission.
He continues his bid for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, an award for which he is currently considered a favorite. He seeks to help the Stars break through the conference finals ceiling they`ve faced in the last two postseasons. He wants to lift the Stanley Cup again, this time without relying on MacKinnon. He aims to prove that the Stars` investment in him was justified. And perhaps, make Colorado regret trading him, if that point wasn`t already clear when Rantanen entered `Beast Mode` – or perhaps `Moose Mode` – to eliminate the Avalanche in the first round.
“Somehow the deal should have probably gotten done in Colorado. It didn`t. So he`s like, `I`m trying to prove that I`m elite world class,`” Smith suggested.
“If you want to say he`s on a mission, I can understand that. Look all the way around the room. Everybody`s got something that they want to prove to everybody and prove about themselves. Right now, [Mikko is] trying to prove that, `Hey, I`m worth it.`”
Rupert Hartwell