First Shift 🏒
If Mikko Rantanen thought the past month has been weird, wait ‘til Sunday.
The Stars’ newest addition has gone from being one of Colorado’s most treasured players, to being a lightning rod in Carolina, to being the centerpiece of the Stars’ future, so yeah, things have been hectic. But after being surprisingly traded from the Avalanche on Jan. 24 and then finding that he wasn’t a fit with the Hurricanes and getting moved to Dallas, where he signed an eight-year contract extension at $12 million per season, Rantanen on Sunday will go back to the place where he started this hockey haiku.
And that might be the hardest day yet.
“It’s going to be emotional, for sure,” Rantanen said Saturday as he met with the Denver media. “I’ve never been on this side of it in Ball Arena, playing in the visitor’s room, so it’s going to be emotional for sure.”
Rantanen was drafted by the Avalanche 10th overall in 2015 and played 10 years in the organization. He was among the team’s scoring leaders and helped it win the 2022 Stanley Cup. He was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer, and he and the Avalanche couldn’t get on the same page for a new contract. Colorado decided to trade him to Carolina, and the move was a bit of a surprise. Rantanen’s 13 games in Carolina were brief to say the least and when the Hurricanes couldn’t get a contract extension done, that created the opening for Rantanen to come to Dallas.
While the 28-year-old is happy with where he’s at, he understands that the two trades have left some people frustrated in other cities. He has been the subject of a lot of internet speculation and said he was looking forward to having dinner with his old teammates on Saturday to talk things out.
“I think it’s good now for me to clear up all of the stuff,” he said. “I understand that it’s business. It happens. It was hard the first week or even more. It was hard to swallow. We haven’t really had a chance to talk fully. I just want to be honest and throw the facts out.”
He also would like to tell the fans how much he appreciated his time in Denver. He knows he could get booed – the way Duchene did when he went back in the playoffs – but is hoping for the best.
On the ice, the Stars are expected to get Hintz back into the lineup after a facial injury, and Rantanen is expected to be on a line with his fellow Finn. Lian Bichsel also is expected back after missing Friday’s game in Winnipeg (a 4-1 loss to the Jets) with illness. Rantanen said the Stars need to rebound from Friday’s game.
“It’s big. It might be a matchup in the playoffs,” Rantanen said of possibly facing Colorado in the First Round. “We’ve got to play better. We didn’t play a great game against Winnipeg, so we’ve got to find a way to play our game and get better for sure.”
Stars coach Pete DeBoer said that Dallas would learn from the tests.
“From a coach perspective, I’m excited to see what kind of holes we can poke in them and what kind of holes they poke in us, so we can try to get it fixed before the playoffs,” DeBoer said.
And, traditionally speaking, one of the best ways to have a player assimilate to his new team is to play his old team. Moments like this have a way of bonding the new guys.
“You’ve just got to go play,” Rantanen said. “Obviously, it’s going to be emotional. They’re a very good team, but Dallas is a good team too. That’s one reason why Dallas was on my list at the end of the day. I’m very happy to be here now. “
