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

[docbenton]

I'll say this, that tier had guys who have a significantly higher ceiling of being franchise players. Rantanen is good and is probably a very safe pick, he will make the NHL as a top 9 forward with a solid 2-way game and could be a top line winger. Strome and Marner, are a bit more boom bust, but have a higher probability of being elite scorers in the league. Granted, it is much easier for me to follow these two, but I'd like to wait til around the half season mark before this can be re-evalauted, it minimizes the effect hot streaks can have on perception. Most of my experience watching Rantanen was WJC and on BET365 crappy stream.

I had Rantanen at 3 on the draft thread and quite a bit above both Strome and Marner. Best forward after Eichel, more skill and upside than any of the CHL guys. We'll see if I was right! I also had Provorov pretty low and Vince Dunn quite high, we'll see if those prove true.

 

[BB88]

He's good but I don't think he's entered the Marner, Strome, Hanifin tier. Rantanen is a great prospect but both Marner and Strome are believed to have higher ceilings, I don't think a qtr of a season has changed that. At the time of the draft there was a clear divide. But lets agree to disagree or create a Marner or Strome vs Rantanen thread, too many of these threads get derailed this way. He's a great prospect and Colorado and the fins should be happy, i look forward to watching him more at the WJC while I track Kapanen, and get a better glimpse of Laine and Pulujarvi.

I'll say this, that tier had guys who have a significantly higher ceiling of being franchise players. Rantanen is good and is probably a very safe pick, he will make the NHL as a top 9 forward with a solid 2-way game and could be a top line winger. Strome and Marner, are a bit more boom bust, but have a higher probability of being elite scorers in the league. Granted, it is much easier for me to follow these two, but I'd like to wait til around the half season mark before this can be re-evalauted, it minimizes the effect hot streaks can have on perception. Most of my experience watching Rantanen was WJC and on BET365 crappy stream.

I think that Rantanen can be one of the best 2way wingers in the game, Lou Eriksson but bigger and faster.
It depends how much does one value players like those, he won't set highlight goals game after game but you win with players like him.

It's nice to see opposing teams coaches say he is a dominant player/ unbelievable.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I'll say this, that tier had guys who have a significantly higher ceiling of being franchise players. Rantanen is good and is probably a very safe pick, he will make the NHL as a top 9 forward with a solid 2-way game and could be a top line winger. Strome and Marner, are a bit more boom bust, but have a higher probability of being elite scorers in the league. Granted, it is much easier for me to follow these two, but I'd like to wait til around the half season mark before this can be re-evalauted, it minimizes the effect hot streaks can have on perception. Most of my experience watching Rantanen was WJC and on BET365 crappy stream.

Rantanen certainly isn't on a hot streak, he's just playing solid and is a difference maker at the AHL level. But it's tough to compare and I wouldn't say yet that he should be considered the "next" best forward in the draft. Marner and Strome are still in junior obviously and will continue to get the benefit of the doubt until they play pro. I can see that they both will probably be more dynamic scorers at the next level. I wasn't as high on Strome so not sure I would have taken him over Rantanen (I would have said that last summer too), Rantanen is also a better fit for the Avs than Marner though i completely understand if fans of other teams prefer Marner. But back to the point of Rantanen, he's adapted to the pro game well and I couldn't be happier with him.

 

[Risingwind]

Strome and Marner, are a bit more boom bust, but have a higher probability of being elite scorers in the league. Granted, it is much easier for me to follow these two, but I'd like to wait til around the half season mark before this can be re-evalauted, it minimizes the effect hot streaks can have on perception.

And for us Finns it was much easier to follow Rantanen than get even a glimpse on how Strome and Marner were doing. It's really difficult to say anything useful about the 2015 draft stock with what we've seen so far.

The only thing that struck me as an unmentioned point in this conversation is that Rantanen had a certain prestige to him during his last months in TPS -- He was a prominent player and represented a similar impact to what passes as a young franchise player in the NHL. It wasn't a questionable thing where he had the potential to be a franchise player, but it would have been a given that he would be the face of the team if he kept playing there. The only problem is they knew they wouldn't be able to keep him even for one more year, so they had to blow up and restructure the team pretty swiftly in the offseason. Young players don't generally do things like that in the Liiga. It's not a development league at all. In recent memory there's only Barkov that really stood out that way, though Granlund could be included in this list as well.

We're all in agreement that Strome, Marner, and Rantanen are all good prospects. I suppose the best part is seeing which of these young players suceeds the most.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

And for us Finns it was much easier to follow Rantanen than get even a glimpse on how Strome and Marner were doing. It's really difficult to say anything useful about the 2015 draft stock with what we've seen so far.

The only thing that struck me as an unmentioned point in this conversation is that Rantanen had a certain prestige to him during his last months in TPS -- He was a prominent player and represented a similar impact to what passes as a young franchise player in the NHL. It wasn't a questionable thing where he had the potential to be a franchise player, but it would have been a given that he would be the face of the team if he kept playing there. The only problem is they knew they wouldn't be able to keep him even for one more year, so they had to blow up and restructure the team pretty swiftly in the offseason. Young players don't generally do things like that in the Liiga. It's not a development league at all. In recent memory there's only Barkov that really stood out that way, though Granlund could be included in this list as well.

We're all in agreement that Strome, Marner, and Rantanen are all good prospects. I suppose the best part is seeing which of these young players suceeds the most.

I would welcome a Finnish opinion on how Rantanen played against men with TPS Turku as a 17 year old. 2nd on the team in scoring is obvious to see. I am more interested in the intangibles discussion. I know Redline Report was raving about him last draft. Certainly is continuing his strong play against men this year in the AHL.

 

[returnofthemack29]

Rantanen with another 3 point night. A goal and two assists. in 13 GP Rantanen has 5G 12A for 17 points and +10.

 

[Jetabre]

I really like Rantanen, glad to see he's doing so well in the AHL.

 

[tigervixxxen]

If he had more games he'd be getting more notice. I'm pretty sure the 3 games the a team lost in regulation were without him.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

He's killing it production wise this year in the AHL. 17 points in 13 games.

It will be curious how he does when he gets the call up.

He was pointless in 6 NHL games before being sent down. Which just illustrates the difference in producing in both leagues.

Regardless, good to see him doing well after being sent to the AHL.

 

[avsfan09]

He's killing it production wise this year in the AHL. 17 points in 13 games.

It will be curious how he does when he gets the call up.

He was pointless in 6 NHL games before being sent down. Which just illustrates the difference in producing in both leagues.

Regardless, good to see him doing well after being sent to the AHL.

To be fair I don't think this is fair way to assess his NHL play and it had more to do with puck luck than an inability to play at NHL speed.

 

[Bender]

To be fair I don't think this is fair way to assess his NHL play and it had more to do with puck luck than an inability to play at NHL speed.

Puck luck, his linemates inability to convert and ice time were factors for sure.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I don't want to be misunderstood on Rantanen here, he is a terrific prospect that I ranked at #13 last year. If anything, it shows the wide discrepancy of talent from the AHL to the NHL. There are no guarantees. Until you produce in the NHL it is hard to project just how good a prospect will be.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

I don't want to be misunderstood on Rantanen here, he is a terrific prospect that I ranked at #13 last year. If anything, it shows the wide discrepancy of talent from the AHL to the NHL. There are no guarantees. Until you produce in the NHL it is hard to project just how good a prospect will be.

A Finnish example, Puljujärvi went 0+0 in the U20s last year, while he went on to score 0,5 PPG in Liiga against grown men. Still, people were hyping him as Finland's maybe most dangerous offensive player after Rantanen, and I don't think people would say that it's harder to score at U20s or that it has a higher level of play. Stats, especially after only 6 games can be deceiving.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

He's killing it production wise this year in the AHL. 17 points in 13 games.

It will be curious how he does when he gets the call up.

He was pointless in 6 NHL games before being sent down. Which just illustrates the difference in producing in both leagues.

Regardless, good to see him doing well after being sent to the AHL.

Averaging 9 minutes a game in the NHL didn't help his case either.

 

[tigervixxxen]

If you want to know what it really was. First Rantanen started with Soderberg and another rookie Rendulic (who is also in the AHL right now) that line was so bad they didn't see the offensive zone for three games. Then he was put with Duchene who was slumping so bad he had like 2 points in October and Iginla, who Roy at the time hadn't figured out was dragging Duchene down. Rant amen had a couple good looks, a breakaway sticks out in my mind and Duchene could have buried a few nice feeds but it just wasn't clicking while he was up here. Going down was great for his confidence and to get rolling but his lack of production in those 6 games shouldn't be indicative of his scoring potential going forward.

 

[Jack DiBiase]

Just keep him in the minors until the World Juniors and then after the WJC games call him up.

 

[Periwinkle]

Just keep him in the minors until the World Juniors and then after the WJC games call him up.

I'm actually hoping she slows down a bit for a couple of weeks so Colorado won't call him up. After that... carry on

 

[FinPanda]

She? He.

And yeah I also hope he gets called up after the WJC.

 

[Periwinkle]

She? He.

And yeah I also hope he gets called up after the WJC.

Oops. Typo, obviously.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Is still producing. Scored a goal last night, now has 19 points in 15 games for a rookie 2015 draftee in the AHL. Impressive for such a young player.

Is also 6'4 211 lbs. Size and skill.

His play intrigues me because I like what I have seen of Jesse Puljujarvi. Could be a good gauge for that good one.

 

[Puckstop40]

Is still producing. Scored a goal last night, now has 19 points in 15 games for a rookie 2015 draftee in the AHL. Impressive for such a young player.

Is also 6'4 211 lbs. Size and skill.

His play intrigues me because I like what I have seen of Jesse Puljujarvi. Could be a good gauge for that good one.

Jesse and Mikko will look good together on the same line next year in Colorado

 

[tigervixxxen]

Is still producing. Scored a goal last night, now has 19 points in 15 games for a rookie 2015 draftee in the AHL. Impressive for such a young player.

Is also 6'4 211 lbs. Size and skill.

His play intrigues me because I like what I have seen of Jesse Puljujarvi. Could be a good gauge for that good one.

He does a lot of little things, something great on every shift. Points are of course nice but I love how he impacts the game. Goal was a nice one timer on the PP, it's good to see him shooting as he does look to pass a lot.

 

[BB88]

Jesse and Mikko will look good together on the same line next year in Colorado

Rants-Duchene-Pulju
Landeskog-MacKinnon-x
would be pretty funny top6

 

[JAS 39 Gripen]

Rants-Duchene-Pulju
Landeskog-MacKinnon-x
would be pretty funny top6

And a pretty bad one at that

 

[The Winter Soldier]

He does a lot of little things, something great on every shift. Points are of course nice but I love how he impacts the game. Goal was a nice one timer on the PP, it's good to see him shooting as he does look to pass a lot.

These are the type of players I like. Intantigles that do not show up in points. Rantanen just may be the best player not playing in the NHL right now. I don't recall a player that was just drafted that is playing over a PPG in the AHL. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up. I recall Redline Report raving about him prior to the draft.