FRISCO, Texas — Mikko Rantanen can really settle in now, knowing where he will be for quite a while after going from Colorado to Carolina to Dallas in a six-week span last season.
“It was way different than all the other (seasons), because going through three teams and all the mental side of the things where you donâ€t know whatâ€s going to happen and get surprised by a couple of things,†Rantanen said. “Hopefully, I don’t have go to go through that again.â€
The winger who has averaged more than a point a game in his 10 NHL seasons isn’t going anywhere else anytime soon.
Rantanen has already become a big presence for the Stars. The six-foot-four Finn had a spectacular playoff performance after arriving last winter. He’s had a full off-season before the start of his $96 million, eight-year extension, the most expensive contract in franchise history that was part of the blockbuster deal at the trade deadline March 7 that sent him to Dallas.
“We know who he is. Weâ€ve watched him, weâ€ve had to play against him. … He’s had a chance now to kind of debrief,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said at the start of training camp.
“Mental side of the sport, it’s easier when you know where youâ€re going to go or where youâ€re going to be,” said Rantanen, who turns 29 on Oct. 29. “When you’re feeling good mentally, I think it helps on the ice.â€
While Rantanen provides plenty of points, Nill also looks forward to leadership from the player he describes as very focused, very dedicated, and driven to win.
“Tenth year in the league now, and so I think more with the experience, obviously try to be vocal in the locker room and stuff like that,†Rantanen said. “But itâ€s just natural. Iâ€m not trying to overthink it. Try to do the same things I did in the previous teams and just be myself.â€
Goalie Jake Oettinger said Rantanen is always with teammates, both on the ice and wanting to hang out as a group away from the rink.
“From the time he came here, it felt like heâ€d been on our team for a long time,†Oettinger said.
Rantanen was part of Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup title. Tyler Seguin is the only other current Stars player to win a Cup, and his came as a rookie with Boston in 2011.
“You get to see guys like that a few times in your career, not often. But you get to see behind doors what heâ€s like and how hard he works and what he can do in the gym, and just really his work ethic,†Seguin said. “Heâ€s a leader in all those things. If youâ€re a kid, just kind of watch Mikko throughout his six hours at the rink.”
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Rantanen had 18 points (five goals) in 20 games at the end of the regular season for the Stars. He added 22 points (nine goals) in 18 playoff games, including a stretch with back-to-back hat tricks and being involved in 13 consecutive Dallas goals, an NHL playoff record.
In the Stars†first-round series against the Avalanche, Rantanen had a four-point second period in Game 6, then in Game 7 finished off his former team with four points in the third period, including his first career post-season hat trick and an assist on the tie-breaking power-play goal for a series-clinching 4-2 win.
After being the first NHL player ever in the regular season or playoffs to have four-point periods in consecutive games, he opened the second round with a hat trick against Winnipeg.
Rantanen has 705 points (294 goals, 411 assists) in 652 career regular-season games, all but 33 of those with Colorado. He has another 123 points (43 goals) in 99 playoff games.
“It was always hard to play against that guy,†said Stars defenceman Miro Heiskanen, a fellow Finn.
Before being traded twice, Rantanen had been with Colorado for nine-and-a-half seasons, making his NHL debut with the Avalanche just weeks before his 19th birthday. They traded him Jan. 24, but he played only 13 games for Carolina, which like the Avs was unable to work out a long-term deal before he could potentially become an unrestricted free agent.
Dallas did so with the most expensive contract in its franchise history while also giving up promising young forward Logan Stankoven, two first-round and two third-round picks.
New Stars coach Glen Gulutzan was on Edmonton’s staff the past seven seasons, and the past two the Oilers beat Dallas in the Western Conference Final. He told Rantanen how glad he was after the trade to the East, then how sad he was after the deal brought him back to the West.
“Then I got to coach Dallas, and now I’m happy that you’re here,†Gulutzan said, relaying the rest of that conversation.
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