[COL, CAR, CHI] Rantanen-Hall to CAR, Necas-Drury-25 2nd-26 4th to COL, Chi 25 3rd to Chi (Ret 50% on Mikko)

[flyfysher]

Not easily. Very quickly you get into a situation like Leafs. You pay too much for your frontline and it inflates all the new contracts as well.

Leafs made mistake by signing Tavares imo

Makes me appreciate CMac all the more. It’s hard to make that call for a long time player that you won a SC championship with. I don’t envy him.

 

[flyfysher]

Yeah, I mean Dallas just doesn't have the same quality as MacK and Makar. No other team has really. It's normal for his output to lower but I think his overall game can still improve. That's the key I think.

His overall game for a 12 million dollar player is very poor.

Yeah, I think Stars fans are starting to realize this.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Makes me appreciate CMac all the more. It’s hard to make that call for a long time player that you won a SC championship with. I don’t envy him.

Oh and this still kinda backfired because Rantanen was traded to Dallas. It will hurt us a lot if we lose vs them in playoffs and they end Cup winners. Rantanen plays for one of our top rivals.

It was very ballsy move but I think he did the right thing. Whatever we were doing before just wasn't working. I think it was the right move but we'll see how it ends.

 

[AvsMakar08]

May Dallas be plagued with more and continuing issues of such a nature.

Yes brother, I agree.

 

[LOFIN]

You guys all know I was a big Mikko fan and I thought we would never trade him, but it just very well might be that the most of his point production was him playing next to Nate. He has combined 19 games played with Canes and Stars and has 10 points. That’s a 43 point pace.

He has relied on Nate for the last two years for his point production. This was not the case before 2023. I do believe that he can and will probably focus more on the offseason and tries to adapt his game, now that he has to once again do more work to get his cookies.

 

[flyfysher]

Oh and this still kinda backfired because Rantanen was traded to Dallas. It will hurt us a lot if we lose vs them in playoffs and they end Cup winners. Rantanen plays for one of our top rivals.

It was very ballsy move but I think he did the right thing. Whatever we were doing before just wasn't working. I think it was the right move but we'll see how it ends.

Has it occurred to you that Rants signing with the Stars might backfire for them? Their fan base was saying Rants and Hintz aren’t a natural fit so they want to try him with Duchene or Johnston. Johnston just extended for like $8.4M. I kinda like the dynamics of having a C paired with Rants that makes almost a 1/3 less than his wing while doing all of the work driving play.

 

[flyfysher]

He has relied on Nate for the last two years for his point production. This was not the case before 2023. I do believe that he can and will probably focus more on the offseason and tries to adapt his game, now that he has to once again do more work to get his cookies.

And if he does up his game later then he’ll understand why the Avs didn’t think he was worth more than $11.75M at the time.

 

[Vaslof]

He’s still under PPG with Dallas, although smaller sample size. I don’t think he’s gonna drop to a 40 point player in Dallas, but don’t think he’s a 100 point player there either. Probably not even close. More like 80-85

Duchene is on pace for hitting 80 points in Dallas. Mikko can definitely hit 100 on a good season. But it's no guarantee.

 

[Vaslof]

Makes me appreciate CMac all the more. It’s hard to make that call for a long time player that you won a SC championship with. I don’t envy him.

He deserves massive credit for it. But Rants agent playing hardball definitely helped him to make that call. Otherwise I think he would have already been gone last summer.

 

[the_fan]

Duchene is on pace for hitting 80 points in Dallas. Mikko can definitely hit 100 on a good season. But it's no guarantee.

Mikko needs to start driving play if he wants to hit 100. Duchene drives play, he creates stuff for his line, something Mikko hasn’t done for few years, and Dallas doesn’t have a play maker like MacKinnon to set up Mikko all the time

 

[GeoRox89]

I agree with this. The issue for Dallas, however, is how do you justify an 80 point player with a $12M salary?

They’ve been paying Benn 9.5 and Seguin 9.85. Pretty sure when it comes to justifying contracts butter doesn’t melt in these guys mouths

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Has it occurred to you that Rants signing with the Stars might backfire for them? Their fan base was saying Rants and Hintz aren’t a natural fit so they want to try him with Duchene or Johnston. Johnston just extended for like $8.4M. I kinda like the dynamics of having a C paired with Rants that makes almost a 1/3 less than his wing while doing all of the work driving play.

Absolutely true and it could happen!

 

[the_fan]

I agree with this. The issue for Dallas, however, is how do you justify an 80 point player with a $12M salary?

That’s what I said too. Dallas has to hope Mikko can start driving play, that’s the only way 12 mill can be justified

 

[Vaslof]

Looks like Mikko has a full NMC too. I think that's the only downside for the Stars.

 

[flyfysher]

Looks like Mikko has a full NMC too. I think that's the only downside for the Stars.

So it’s gotta be VGK or TML or Panthers if he moves, amirite?

 

[niwotsblessing]

My opinion: Rantanen did get lazy because he got used to fed by MacK and Makar and other top guys. That laziness cost him in terms of his own game and now it's showing when trying to do more than just put up points on paper. I think he can fix things next summer by working hard and coming back physically 100%. He just looks way too slow and weak to make a difference now. That's few years of laziness he needs to shake off. He had it too good for so many years and got sloppy.

For me it will be very interesting to see how he plays next season. I think this season will be meh because those bad habits. He will bounce back next season I think. He has too much pride to play this badly.

Yogi Berra said "50% of the game is 90% mental."

Ismo called out Moose a couple of seasons back for not training well, and for his lazy play on the ice.. Getting back in shape is one thing, it may be harder to find the mental edge with a fat Ring on one's finger.

Full disclosure: I was strongly in favor of trading Moose, yet I had no idea we'd get a talent like Marty Necas in return- dances on ice indeed. He is made for Bednar' system, and as his game rounds out he will continue to be a menace to our defeated foes.

 

[Vaslof]

Yogi Berra said "50% of the game is 90% mental."

Ismo called out Moose a couple of seasons back for not training well, and for his lazy play on the ice.. Getting back in shape is one thing, it may be harder to find the mental edge with a fat Ring on one's finger.

Full disclosure: I was strongly in favor of trading Moose, yet I had no idea we'd get a talent like Marty Necas in return- dances on ice indeed. He is made for Bednar' system, and as his game rounds out he will continue to be a menace to our defeated foes.

So I looked back on the Ismo comments. Afterwards he has said that it was all speculation and he had no facts, and that it was all tongue in cheek. Also it wasn't about Mikko being lazy, but about doing too many sponshorship events and playing for the national team.

 

[Balthazar]

I agree with this. The issue for Dallas, however, is how do you justify an 80 point player with a $12M salary?

It's worse than that. Rants wouldn't just be a 80 point player, he'd be a BAD 80 point player. A guy with poor defense and poor overall play but very opportunistic.

As a player he's closer to Patrik Laine than we'd like to believe.

 

[Vaslof]

Bonus fun fact: In the same interview where Ismo criticized Rants he also said that he trusts Ryan Johansen as a 2C.

 

[LOFIN]

There are only a handful of players in the NHL, who are "lazy" when it comes to offseason training and whatnot. Elias Pettersson comes to mind. Rantanen is not one of those.

However, there are a lot of players who are not doing training optimally. Rantanen should focus more on his skating, instead of lifting weights.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

There are only a handful of players in the NHL, who are "lazy" when it comes to offseason training and whatnot. Elias Pettersson comes to mind. Rantanen is not one of those.

However, there are a lot of players who are not doing training optimally. Rantanen should focus more on his skating, instead of lifting weights.

Ah, yes, the Swedish guy is lazy. The Finnish player is not.

Got it, Finnish dude. Thanks for that!

 

[Balthazar]

Ah, yes, the Swedish guy is lazy. The Finnish player is not.

Rantanen and Laine are arguably the two laziest "superstars" in the league.

 

[LOFIN]

Ah, yes, the Swedish guy is lazy. The Finnish player is not.

Got it, Finnish dude. Thanks for that!

This is not a perception, we have it on record of Alvin and Rutherford saying Petterson didn't turn up to camp in shape. This has never been the case with Rantanen, despite what Ika says. He posted the best results for camp physicals multiple years in a row at one point.

 

[LOFIN]

Rantanen and Laine are arguably the two laziest "superstars" in the league.

Define "lazy". In terms of playing style? Yeah, Rantanen is up there. In terms of putting in effort for his offseason training? Nah.

Laine, is not part of this discussion.

 

[Balthazar]

Define "lazy". In terms of playing style? Yeah, Rantanen is up there. In terms of putting in effort for his offseason training? Nah.

Yeah on the ice during games. Like not moving their feet, not engaging defensively or physically. Looking for the easy points.

In short, the complete opposite of how Lehkonen, another Finn, plays.