Before establishing himself as a dominant force in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, Mikko Rantanen wasn`t quite performing at his usual elite level.
Dallas defenseman Brendan Smith commented on Rantanen`s journey, stating, “I think this year has been such a whirlwind for him that it took him some time to get comfortable with us.”
In his preceding four NHL seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, Rantanen ranked fifth among all players in goals (163) and seventh in points per game (1.27). He was on track to match these benchmarks again this season, having recorded 25 goals and a 1.31 points-per-game average with the Avalanche.
However, after 49 games of the season, his circumstances drastically changed.
Rantanen was part of a three-team trade on January 24 that sent him to the Carolina Hurricanes. Following 13 unremarkable games with Carolina and his stated intention not to sign an extension before becoming an unrestricted free agent, Rantanen was traded a second time to the Dallas Stars before the NHL trade deadline on March 7. He finally found stability by signing an eight-year extension with Dallas.
His performance in 20 regular-season games with Dallas was below his career averages (five goals, 0.90 points per game). His start to the postseason was quiet, with just one assist through four games against his former Avalanche teammates in the first round.
Questions arose from fans and the media: Was this level of play commensurate with an eight-year, $96 million contract that included a full no-movement clause? Could Rantanen maintain elite offensive production without his former linemates Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who were crucial to his success in Colorado? Would he live up to his reputation as a playoff standout, having been fourth in postseason points (62 in 48 games) since 2020?
Who was Mikko Rantanen in this new situation?
Dallas coach Pete DeBoer reflected, “When you think about his journey this year, he`s been through a lot. 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 watched as Rantanen struggled to integrate and find his form.
Brendan Smith described the challenges of professional sports, “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 comradery, where you fit, all these little things.” He speculated, “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?
Smith added with a laugh, “Now, he looks comfortable.”
Since Game 5 against the Avalanche, Rantanen has been incredibly productive, tallying 18 points in seven games. Five of these games were Dallas victories, as they pushed the Winnipeg Jets to the verge of elimination with a 3-1 lead in their second-round series, aiming for a third consecutive trip to the Western Conference finals.
Rantanen commented on his focus, “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. But even keel after wins and good games.”
After Tuesday night, Rantanen led all postseason scorers with 19 points in 11 games. He became the first player in NHL history to record five three-point games within a team`s first 10 playoff contests in a single postseason. He set another league record by being involved in 13 consecutive goals scored by his team (at one point, he factored into 15 of 16 Dallas goals).
“He`s just getting started. He`s just warming up here,” DeBoer said after the Stars` Game 3 win against Winnipeg. “I think he`s on a mission.”
The **2015 NHL DRAFT** class was exceptionally talented.
The Avalanche selected Rantanen, an 18-year-old winger who was playing against men in Finland`s SM-liiga, after notable players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Noah Hanifin, Zach Werenski, and Timo Meier had already been picked.
Over the following decade, Rantanen would become the second-highest goal scorer from that draft class (294), trailing only McDavid (361), a three-time MVP and five-time scoring champion. His on-ice partnership with MacKinnon was instrumental in their offensive dominance. During his back-to-back 100-point seasons with the Avalanche in 2022-23 and 2023-24, approximately 75% of Rantanen`s total ice time was spent alongside MacKinnon.
MacKinnon acknowledged Rantanen`s impact, saying, “He helped grow this organization into a Stanley Cup winner and a contender every single season. He`s a big reason why.”
In Colorado`s 2022 Stanley Cup championship run, Rantanen contributed 25 points in 20 games.
Rantanen signed a significant six-year extension in 2019 with an average annual value of $9.25 million. MacKinnon later surpassed this with his 2022 extension valued at $12.6 million AAV. As Rantanen moved closer to becoming an unrestricted free agent in Summer 2025, discussions within the Avalanche organization revolved around his salary demands and their implications for the team`s financial structure, considering MacKinnon`s contract and Makar`s upcoming extension in 2027.
Rantanen was hopeful that a solution could be found during the season to keep him with the Avalanche.
He recounted the situation, “It was a weird situation overall. Negotiations were going on with Colorado. Six weeks before the deadline, we were negotiating. 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 acquired forward Martin Necas, their leading scorer at the time, as part of the package for Rantanen. When Carolina contacted Rantanen before the trade to discuss a potential sign-and-trade, he informed them his priority was staying in Colorado.
He noted, “They still did the trade. That was their decision.”
Rantanen described his initial days with Carolina as “shocking.” He maintains he joined the Hurricanes with an open mind, but after a couple of weeks, he didn`t feel it was the right fit, partly due to adapting to coach Rod Brind`amour`s system and the team`s playing style.
Rantanen has refuted claims that he arrived in Raleigh with a list of preferred trade destinations. He also denied reports that his decision not to sign long-term was a “family decision,” stating, “It was a hockey decision at the end of the day and nothing else.”
He provided Carolina GM Eric Tulsky with a short list of potential trade destinations if they chose not to keep him as a rental player who would likely leave in the summer.
Dallas GM Jim Nill stated that the Hurricanes began making exploratory calls about two weeks before the trade deadline.
Nill recalled, “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.”
Ultimately, that was the direction they took, 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.
DeBoer commented on the impact, “It definitely changes things when you have a guy like that, a star player. It changes the identity of your team.”
The coach explained, “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. 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 current postseason dominance is directly linked to his feeling comfortable and settled in Dallas.
Being surrounded by fellow countrymen certainly helped.
Before Game 4 against the Winnipeg Jets, the Stars` social media accounts shared a photo of five players captioned, “For the first time, our new Finnish Mafia is at full strength.”
The photo featured Rantanen (born in Nousiainen) alongside forward Roope Hintz (Tampere), defenseman Miro Heiskanen (Espoo), center Mikael Granlund (Oulu), and defenseman Esa Lindell (Vantaa).
That 3-1 victory 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 joined at the deadline. Along with goalie Jake Oettinger, the Finns were pivotal in that game: Granlund netted a hat trick with assists from Rantanen and a returning Heiskanen, who had previously expressed hope that the “Finnish 5” could play as a unit.
Heiskanen remarked, “We`ll see if they put us together there. That would be nice. Maybe next game.”
Rantanen initially spent most of his time with Hintz after arriving from Carolina, but only played 6:55 at 5-on-5 with Granlund during the regular season. This changed significantly in the playoffs, where 65% of Rantanen`s even-strength ice time has been with Granlund as his center.
Granlund shared his thoughts on playing together, “It`s great to be on the same side, for sure. 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 composed of Hintz, Rantanen, and Granlund boasts a plus-3 goal differential and a strong 15.4% on-ice shooting percentage.
Smith mentioned that the Stars players were anticipating coach DeBoer uniting the Finnish group.
Smith explained, “We we were talking about it for a couple weeks: Put the Finns together and let them deal with it. 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.”
The effectiveness of this line is one factor contributing to Rantanen`s record-setting scoring pace in the playoffs. The Stars` power play is another, operating at a 32.4% conversion rate, with Rantanen contributing two goals and four assists on the unit.
Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel noted that defending Rantanen has become more challenging with that line clicking, calling them “certainly dangerous.”
Arniel described Rantanen, “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 is focused on doing next is completing his mission.
This involves continuing his pursuit of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, an award for which he is currently considered a favorite. It means helping the Stars break through the Western Conference Final ceiling they`ve encountered in the last two postseasons. It means lifting the Stanley Cup again, this time without MacKinnon directly assisting on his line. It means proving that the Stars` significant investment in him was a sound decision. It means making Colorado regret trading him, perhaps a point already made when Rantanen entered “Beast Mode” – or perhaps “Moose Mode” – to eliminate his former team in the first round.
Smith reflected, “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 concluded, “If you want to say he`s 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.`”
