Mikko Rantanen sustained a torn MCL in his knee while playing for Finland at the Olympics, an injury Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill said kept the forward from being himself for the remainder of the season, the report says.
Rantanen missed 15 games after the injury and returned for the final 10 regular-season contests, producing one goal and four assists in that span, the report says. He added one goal and six assists in Dallas’ first-round loss to Minnesota in six games.
Before the Olympics, Rantanen had 21 goals and 51 assists in 54 games, per the report. The Stars acquired him in a deadline deal last season, signed him to a $96 million, eight-year extension and, the report says, he followed with a remarkable postseason that included nine goals and 13 assists in 18 games when Dallas reached the Western Conference final for the third straight year.
On his season-ending availability, Nill said Rantanen did not require surgery and would benefit from extended time off along with many other players. “Did he come back too soon? Not too soon, but would have been nice to have one or two more weeks to really settle in,” Nill said. “He never really got going again.”
Nill emphasized the broader injury toll on the club, saying the Stars never had a full lineup all season and the playoffs. Roope Hintz missed the first four games after the Olympics because of illness and then tore his left hamstring in two places in the only game he played after that, the report says. Tyler Seguin suffered an ACL injury in December. Top defenseman Miro Heiskanen missed the final three regular-season games with an oblique tear and then sprained an ankle during the playoffs.
Other issues included Radek Faksa, who sustained a concussion during the Olympics and later suffered a foot laceration but played the final two regular-season games and the playoffs; Nill said that injury may require further surgery. Michael Bunting appeared in only one playoff game after a late-season groin injury. Defenseman Nils Lundkvist took a skate to the face in Game 4 against Minnesota, received stitches inside and out and sustained a concussion; Nill called him “a very lucky man” and said he might have returned had the series gone to a Game 7.
The Stars enter the offseason with roster questions as 45-goal scorer Jason Robertson can become a restricted free agent and longtime captain Jamie Benn is weighing whether to return for an 18th NHL season. Nill said he wants Robertson to remain a Dallas Star and also wants Benn back, the report says.
