Rantanen piling up points, praise with Avalanche as NHL scoring co-leader

Mikko Rantanen didn't know how to react for once.

The Colorado Avalanche forward and NHL scoring co-leader has been the model of confidence and poise on the ice this season, but when told Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine called him "an animal," he was thrown off his game.
"He's a funny guy," Rantanen said of his countryman from Finland. "In Finnish he's really funny. In English, I haven't really talked with him. So I take that as a compliment."
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It was meant as one.
"I knew when I worked out with him the whole summer that he was in really good shape, as always, and I'm not really surprised he's leading the League (in scoring)," Laine said. "He's a hell of a player and he's an animal, that's how good he is."
Laine isn't the only one heaping praise on the 22-year old, who has 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) heading into the Avalanche's home game against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; ALT, NESN, NHL.TV). He is tied with Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, who had three assists against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

Rantanen's linemates, center Nathan MacKinnon and forward Gabriel Landeskog, are equally impressed and certainly not surprised by his success after he had 84 points (29 goals, 55 assists) in 81 games last season.
"Last year he had a strong season from start to finish, constantly made plays and constantly found ways to create offense," said Landeskog, the Avalanche captain.
But until this season, his fourth in the NHL, Rantanen had been a well-kept secret. Last season he took a backseat to MacKinnon, who was a finalist for the Hart Trophy and scored 97 points (39 goals, 58 assists). In 2016-17, Rantanen had 38 points (20 goals, 18 assists) in 75 games but Colorado finished last in the NHL with a 22-56-4 record.
"When you have a player that scores 97 points, what [MacKinnon] had, that kind of stole the headlines," Landeskog said. "But I don't think Mikko minded that. He doesn't want attention necessarily. He doesn't care about that. He's trying to do what's best for the team.
"So it's good to see the League is finally catching on to what he can do. I've said it from Day One, that I don't think there's a ceiling on how good he can be. There's no limit to that. It's going to be fun to be his teammate."
All three of them are having fun this season. Rantanen, MacKinnon (24 points; 11 goals, 13 assists) and Landeskog (19 points; 11 goals, eight assists) have combined for 69 points, one more than the Bruins' top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak.
Rantanen, who was selected No. 10 by the Avalanche in the 2015 NHL Draft and played nine games in 2015-16, said his progress last season was a product of many factors. The most important was his comfort level in the NHL.

"I'm starting my third year in the League and I know what to expect when you go to the game or a new city, that you don't have to think what's going to come up and how's the rink or how are the fans or how's the game tempo here or who's a good team and who's not," said Rantanen, who had a nine-game point streak to start this season. "It's a lot easier to go to the games (now)."
Laine, 20, could see it coming this past offseason, when the two trained together in Turku, near Rantanen's hometown of Nousiainen. The two have trained together regularly the past three offseasons and have become good friends since they were teammates twice in 2016, at the World Junior Championship, which was won by Finland on home ice, and at the World Championship in Moscow, where Finland won the silver medal.
"It's fun to see how much he's getting better every summer," said Laine, the No. 2 pick by Winnipeg in the 2017 NHL Draft. "I think I played against him in juniors a few times. He was obviously good but lately he's been getting a lot better.
"He has a really good shot but he's more of a pass-first guy. Obviously he's got unbelievable vision and watching him play with MacKinnon, it's pretty easy probably."
Just ask MacKinnon.
"He's got so many tools that a lot of guys don't have in this league," MacKinnon said. "In the best league in the world ... he's 6-foot-4, he can move like a little guy and he's got really good vision. It's just a treat to play with him."
All of the numbers, though, are not his focus, Rantanen said.

"Obviously it's still early in the year so I don't think about it too much," he said. "I'm just trying to bring my game and help the team in every game. I'm just trying to keep it simple and there are over 60 games left and that's a lot of games. So I don't think it about it too much."
There is a significant expectation that Rantanen's success will continue. Before a recent game between the Avalanche and the Jets, Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said Rantanen's development curve has been solid.
"I saw him play a game in here in the AHL a few years back and [you could see] it was a matter of time," Maurice said. "He's an incredibly skilled player. He fits that line exceptionally well with what the other two players bring to the table. He has a skill set that clearly, if you open up enough ice for him and those two players will, he's going to make plays."