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RW/C Mikko Rantanen (2015, 10th, COL)

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Does anyone have a link for the hattrick? Seems like he's able to add on a gear for the big games. He'd go top 5 in a normal draft year but there's just no way of telling with the 2015 lottery.
 
kelsier said:
Does anyone have a link for the hattrick? Seems like he's able to add on a gear for the big games. He'd go top 5 in a normal draft year but there's just no way of telling with the 2015 lottery.
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I don't think that they'll show up at all because it was HPK's home game. But as I said, all of them were beauties. :)
 
Is he playing in the junior playoffs because the TPS team missed playoffs in Liiga?
 
Could Rantanen still continue playing hockey this season? Maybe join TuTo in their playoff push in Mestis? Puljujärvi was just loaned to Hokki, so it could be a possibility.
 
The pass was incredible. If there's underrated guy in the draft that'd be Mikko Rantanen. I doubt he makes it to the final WC team but even to be given a chance at the camp is a huge thing. Something that doesn't really happen. Barkov didn't make it in his draft year (maybe due to the injury though). Don't think even Granlund made it in that age.
 
kelsier said:
I doubt he makes it to the final WC team but even to be given a chance at the camp is a huge thing. Something that doesn't really happen. Barkov didn't make it in his draft year (maybe due to the injury though). Don't think even Granlund made it in that age.
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Granlund was one of the last cuts in 2010. Ristolainen was at the camp two years ago. if we go further back in time, Olli Jokinen made the final team in 1997, Kari Lehtonen did the same in 2002. Then if we look at ancient history, Reijo Ruotsalainen made the team in 1978, funnily enough it took two more years before he got drafted.

There might be others as well, but yes, it's not often you see a 1st year draft eligible player on the men's national team.
 
kelsier said:
The pass was incredible. If there's underrated guy in the draft that'd be Mikko Rantanen. I doubt he makes it to the final WC team but even to be given a chance at the camp is a huge thing. Something that doesn't really happen. Barkov didn't make it in his draft year (maybe due to the injury though). Don't think even Granlund made it in that age.
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Barkov had injury. Otherwise i think that he would of been one of the candidates for that team. He was on fire at playoff series against HIFK until he got knee injury after he got hit by Melart.
 
I was at the final game, and although he had only 1 assist it was clear he was the best player on the ice, as expected. Man against boys.
 
IMO Rantanen is the best forward after Eichel. Not only has all the tools but the smarts to use them.
 
How far is the gap between Rantanen and Barkov in his draft year? Obviously Barkov put up far superior points but I've heard Rantanen's team is a complete mess.
 
hockeey said:
How far is the gap between Rantanen and Barkov in his draft year? Obviously Barkov put up far superior points but I've heard Rantanen's team is a complete mess.
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Barkov was such a mature and complete player that it's very hard to match him. However his team was also a lot stronger. I don't think points show everything here, as Rantanen was being misused for a long time in the beginning of the year, before catching on fire after the WJC. After that he has been putting up points and highlight reel goals. So offense-wise the gap has narrowed in my eyes. Defensively it's a bit hard to compare them as Rantanen isn't a center, but he's not a liability at all. He's been playing great on a bad team, but Barkov being a crucial building block on a contender is still more impressive to me.
 
I'm not that good at math but when comparing Barkov's and Rantanen's numbers I think you should take into account that scoring has gone down in SM-Liiga.

Average goals per game:
2011-12 5.46
2012-13 5.27 (Barkov)
2013-14 4.93
2014-15 4.99 (Rantanen)
 
One (quite meaningless) way to assess their offensive numbers is by comparing their production to their team's total production. TPS scored a total of 330 points of which Rantanen scored 28 which is 8.49% of the total. In 2012-2013 Tappara scored 468 points of which Barkov scored 48 which is 10.26% of the total.
 
myrsky said:
I'm not that good at math but when comparing Barkov's and Rantanen's numbers I think you should take into account that scoring has gone down in SM-Liiga.

Average goals per game:
2011-12 5.46
2012-13 5.27 (Barkov)
2013-14 4.93
2014-15 4.99 (Rantanen)
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It went down because Barkov took his talents across the Atlantic :naughty:
 
Tormentor said:
Granlund was one of the last cuts in 2010. Ristolainen was at the camp two years ago. if we go further back in time, Olli Jokinen made the final team in 1997, Kari Lehtonen did the same in 2002. Then if we look at ancient history, Reijo Ruotsalainen made the team in 1978, funnily enough it took two more years before he got drafted.

There might be others as well, but yes, it's not often you see a 1st year draft eligible player on the men's national team.
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Do you think he has good enough two way game to excel in the WC at this point by the way?

Someone said he's the next best thing after Eichel from the forwards and I don't think that's too far off. Rantanen has pretty much everything you could ask from a player. Excellent skating considering the size, superb on one on ones, size and protecting the puck. The previous highlight reel where he asssists a goal when most players would've taken a shot is a perfect example of his hockey IQ and knowing what to do on given situations. He may not turnout the best goal scorer of the draft but I think he's still going to be burying a lot of goals in the big league. Not sure if he'd have been better suited as a center but it's possible, depending on the team that gets him being transformed into one. The only "flaw" I see is not using his size to utilize hard hits when he could but it's not exactly a requirement nor do I see Rantanen being a prototypical powerforward. He's one of those unorthodox guys who's hard to find comparables. Not a lock to play NHL next season like McDavid and Eichel, but really close to it.

Took me up to the last game against Sweden in the WJHC that Finland lost to be convinced that Rantanen is the real deal. You could make a valid argument from the start of the season that the guy was mismanaged but that's in the history now. That would the main reason he was never overhyped coming into the draft but instead raising up from the shadows. If his name gets called within the first 5 guys on the draft day I know a lot of people will be jumping off their seats, me excluded.
 
IMO, he is the most intriguing player from this draft. I can't get a grasp on his potential or upside, he could be a special, special player.
 
This is how I would rank these forwards (as prospects) entering their draft year from 2013-2015. I have my lists going into the 2013 and 2014 drafts. I've included forward drafted in the top 10 and my projected forwards in the 2015 top 10.

McDavid (2015)
Eichel (2015)
MacKinnon (2013)
Rantanen (2015)
Drouin (2013)
Bennett (2014)
Strome (2015)
Reinhart (2014)
Marner (2015)
Barkov (2013)
Lindholm (2013)
Monahan (2013)
Nylander (2014)
Barzal (2015)
Nichushkin (2013)
Ehlers (2014)
Dal Colle (2014)
Virtanen (2014)
Horvat (2013)
Ritchie (2014)

*I don't project Zacha or Crouse in my top 10 picks.

That's how good I think Rantanen will be based on what I've seen. He's going to be a superstar.
 

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