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Rantanen vs Necas points race to end of season.

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I don’t think he’s a MacKinnon merchant, however I think a lot of his points came from passing to him. He was better in Carolina than he was in Dallas if we look at the underlying stats and is putting up some of the worst numbers in his career. I still don’t think Carolina regrets trading Necas away mainly because I don’t think they would’ve gotten this return they wanted (he declined a trade for the 4th OA pick) and he wasn’t going to sign next season. The only thing I wish the canes did differently was to get Bourque out of Dallas cause they need a R shot center. Maybe they could’ve done Bourque, Stankoven, 1st rd pick, 2nd rd pick. Or honestly just Bourque, Stank, 2nd rd pick.
 
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Boxscore said:
^ There are some valid points about LeClair. Yes, he was turning 30, but he was a late(ish) bloomer, was fairly durable, and was never the same player before or after playing with prime Lindros. Even stylistically, Rantanen always reminded me of Johnny... big, strong, but not overly physical... but he is a moose down low and blessed with awesome mitts. Also, like LeClair, I never felt he could "carry a team or line" be it in Montreal or Philly. In other words -- LeClair like Rantanen are the perfect Robin to a Lindros and MacKinnon Batman, but they were/are not built to be the alpha on the team... even though they are star players.

Some guys are just tailor-made for the right situation and aren't nearly effective outside of that perfect situation. I'm afraid Rants might be one of them. This is two teams now where his production is average... and he's played with some decent talent in both cities. Aho, Svechnikov, Jarvis, Ghost, Burns, Hintz, Robertson, Johnston, Harley, etc. aren't chopped liver. Rants was/is expected to elevate them... not the opposite, if we're being honest.
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I see the comparison and it’s fair to both guys… it doesn’t really make sense to build a team around a big slow power winger. Even a good playmaker like Rantanen is dependent on his linemates to acquire the puck and advance it to scoring range in order to get the most out of Rantanen’s skill set. He’s certainly not going to be out there driving the puck 200 feet and scoring on his own.

We’ve discussed this quite a bit on the Canes board and the insight from our end is that you can very easily look at Rantanen and see a guy who can dominate the boards, making quick plays in the short passing game, and be a major one-timer threat when the defense leaves a seam open. That’s perfect for the Rod Brind’Amour offense which systematically pries the defense apart. Presumably, that’s what Tulsky had in mind when he made the first trade. But Rantanen himself didn’t want to play that game, and looked like a fish out of water having to make those systematic plays. He ended up just kind of standing around watching the play instead of contributing to it. That’s just not good enough for a top player, even if he’s uncomfortable in his environment. The assumption of elite playmaking was just not fulfilled.
 
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flyfysher said:
But if his scoring and play don’t rebound in Dallas then that $12+M 8 year contract is not going to age well and his popularity will likely suffer with the fan base there.
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Wow, combined with the ire from the Canes fanbase and that's.. 1...2...4...7 people angry with him
 
I got flamed hard by Avs fans for the past calendar year and Canes/other fans around the league at the time of the trade by calling Rantanen a passenger regardless of point totals.

People need to stop being blinded by production. I get it's important but it's also very situation-dependent. And when you have guys that are one-dimensional and don't carry their own line you need to be careful when it comes to contract time. Off-ice issues aside, I would take Nichuskin 10/10 over Rantanen at the same pay grade. Just impacts all other facets of the game.

I'm not sure what happened, but post-Cup Moose just hasn't been the same player. Maybe he lost a step or lost some drive, but he has all the talent to be THE guy. We'll see how he performs in the playoffs and if an off-season reset can reignite something for the Stars. I'm certainly not writing him off but this has been a 2 year trend.
 
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the valiant effort said:
Stankoven and Jankowski, are they still the GOAT deadline acquisitions?
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Jankowski - 5 goals in 6 games
Stankoven - 1 goal credited, but 2 disallowed goals because of GI/offside calls. Also, should have gotten credit for a goal last night after parking himself in front of the net, but ultimately the scorekeeper gave it to Orlov.
 
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Kcb12345 said:
He was exceptional in that first game with Dallas vs Edmonton. Probably could've/should've left that one with 4 points alone. It was nice to see he was capable of that level of play/being able to drive play like that still. That was probably better than he looked in any of his Carolina games

We haven't seen that level from him consistently since then, but like most of the team he's pretty unlucky right now/not clicking with his linemates.

I mentioned it earlier but his current line is not a fit for him. He and Robertson should not be on the same line. Duchene should be his center but coaches definitely want it to be Hintz (who forces every pass to Rantanen it's getting ridiculous). That trio with him, Robertson, and Hintz has not generated much.

I definitely don't expect him to be a play driver though, or if he is going to be one he will need to adjust his game. At $12m thats not ideal obviously but hopefully he can just be the pure goal scorer we need. A few big playoff goals could more than make up for that extra few mil a year that's probably more than he's worth

You can still see him looking around for someone with speed to hand the puck off to in the neutral zone as if MacKinnon is still on the ice with him though lol.
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I watched that first game too and it was one of the best games I've seen him play in years. He also played well in the last game vs. the Stars in the playoffs last year, but at that point it was too little too late.

That's the frustrating part. You know he has that level but for whatever reason he doesn't bring it on a nightly basis. The theory on the Avs board was that as such a big human he's just gassed from being played so much by Bednar. We'll see if he can bring it more consistently with fewer minutes.
 
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Blueline Bomber said:
Jankowski - 5 goals in 6 games
Stankoven - 1 goal credited, but 2 disallowed goals because of GI/offside calls. Also, should have gotten credit for a goal last night after parking himself in front of the net, but ultimately the scorekeeper gave it to Orlov.
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Make that 6 goals in 7 games for Jankowski
 
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Blueline Bomber said:
Make that 6 goals in 7 games for Jankowski
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6 goals in like 8 shots right? Feels like that 75% shooting percentage is sustainable.

When looking at all the pieces that changed sides at the deadline. Canes ended up with the best one in MJ so they win the deal, even if the 5th to get him wasn’t acquired in previous trades
 
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flyfysher said:
Love Rants but his case highlights MacKinnon’s value in making his linemates excel at production under the Avs system which allows offensively gifted players to flourish. That’s why it’s hard for other teams to replicate. To top that off, Rants became a passenger in CO. You need to bring a lot more to the table to justify a $12M contract.
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There is a reason I have a profile pic of Jokic and MacKinnon. Nobody can floor raise like Jokic and I am not sure if anyone can as well as MacKinnon. Only McDavid is in that convo. Real MVP shit.
 
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Freaky Styley said:
I got flamed hard by Avs fans for the past calendar year and Canes/other fans around the league at the time of the trade by calling Rantanen a passenger regardless of point totals.

People need to stop being blinded by production. I get it's important but it's also very situation-dependent. And when you have guys that are one-dimensional and don't carry their own line you need to be careful when it comes to contract time. Off-ice issues aside, I would take Nichuskin 10/10 over Rantanen at the same pay grade. Just impacts all other facets of the game.

I'm not sure what happened, but post-Cup Moose just hasn't been the same player. Maybe he lost a step or lost some drive, but he has all the talent to be THE guy. We'll see how he performs in the playoffs and if an off-season reset can reignite something for the Stars. I'm certainly not writing him off but this has been a 2 year trend.
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This is why I’m so damn excited about Necas. He’s so much more visible than Mikko and that’s even off the top like now. He’s been driving line 2 with Brock and Lehky.
 
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The Oilers are basically the spot for Rantanen to produce at his highest, probably should have tried a bit harder to make a deal there work, though I'm not sure in the long run that would've been in the Oilers best interest.

Dallas is a good team but I don't know if they have the center mix that a player like Rantanen was accustomed to in Colorado.
 
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Soundwave said:
The Oilers are basically the spot for Rantanen to produce at his highest, probably should have tried a bit harder to make a deal there work, though I'm not sure in the long run that would've been in the Oilers best interest.

Dallas is a good team but I don't know if they have the center mix that a player like Rantanen was accustomed to in Colorado.
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Rants needs a better player than him to produce it would seem. So the list of acceptable places are not very high
 
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