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

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satchmo said:
Im gonna have to eat some of my words. Rantanen does earn his own thread and he probably will go in the first round. Didnt expect such a strong showing.....
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Congratulations! You should receive some kind of medal by actually doing what I told you to do and actually start watching him play, instead of just watching the score board. :handclap:

But seriously, it takes a man to admit he has been wrong, so I appreciate your post. Watching and evaluating prospects isn't exactly science, so we all make mistakes. No hard feelings, dude. :)
 
Rantanen played a great game. Best player for his team. Great both defensively and offensively. Too bad they lost 2-1. Goal was great individual effort.
 
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Love this player, really hoping he's there for the Sharks in the mid-teens but he could easily rise into the top-10.
 
Nice goal, glad he got a boost in confidence. And holy hell does the ice surface look massive having just mainly watched WJC hockey lately.
 
Rantanen has been taking huge strides from last season. Especially with the skating that was his biggest flaw coming to the season and even then he was ranked somewhere around top15-25, if I remember correctly. Another notable improvement is how he stick handles. Usually players either have hands made of stone or they can coordinate them quickly. Can't really remember him doing too much dangling before, but now he seems a lot better with one on ones. Really appears like a whole new player and just like Teräväinen, he could be taking a boost towards the 2nd half of the season after succesful WJC. Difficult to say wether he goes in top10 or top15 but anything is possible. He has size, tools and seems very legit now. Really nice effort there with the goal, in powerforward style.
 
kelsier said:
Another notable improvement is how he stick handles. Usually players either have hands made of stone or they can coordinate them quickly. Can't really remember him doing too much dangling before, but now he seems a lot better with one on ones. Really appears like a whole new player
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He has always been a big time dangler and stickhandler. Ever since he was first called up as a 16-year-old he tried making some nice dangles, but back then didn't have the physical tools to pull them of against men in a pro league. But sure, having had success in international games gives a young man a big confidence boost, which will help him become more aggressive in his dangling as well. As seen in the goal he scored yesterday, he drove straight to the net and finished the play, instead of like earlier this season he would have looked to make a passing play for a teammate.
 
Jack DiBiase said:
He has always been a big time dangler and stickhandler. Ever since he was first called up as a 16-year-old he tried making some nice dangles, but back then didn't have the physical tools to pull them of against men in a pro league. But sure, having had success in international games gives a young man a big confidence boost, which will help him become more aggressive in his dangling as well. As seen in the goal he scored yesterday, he drove straight to the net and finished the play, instead of like earlier this season he would have looked to make a passing play for a teammate.
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I watched him quite a bit last season and in the u18 wjc. I don't think he was as good with the puck as is he now. Of course it could be a bit deceptive as he didn't have the movement to carry the big frame past more mobile opponents. So not saying your wrong, but it's atleast more distinguishable now. Does anyone know wether his height growth has stalled? I would guess it has, but out of curiousity.

A bit off topic, but the right wing for the future's Finnish national team looks stacked. Puljujärvi, Rantanen, Laine, Armia, Kapanen. If you cut out Kapanen they're pretty big kids (6"3 min).
 
kelsier said:
I watched him quite a bit last season and in the u18 wjc. I don't think he was as good with the puck as is he now. Of course it could be a bit deceptive as he didn't have the movement to carry the big frame past more mobile opponents. So not saying your wrong, but it's atleast more distinguishable now. Does anyone know wether his height growth has stalled? I would guess it has, but out of curiousity.
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Yeah, I'm not disagreeing with you either. I'm just saying that the stickhandling and dangle-abilities were always there, but he just wasn't physically ready to make stuff happen consistently. Especially last season he started showing flashes of some brilliant dangleitis, but the end results were often lacking. As I said before in this topic, once he grows into his frame and matures physically, he will be a great asset. I have no idea about his height growth, but I don't think he'll grow much anymore at 18 years old. I went to the same gym as TPS did in the summer and Rantanen looked like about the same size as me at 6'3". I think that's what they are currently listing his height. Weightwise there is much room to grow, as he is still basically build like a twig.
 
http://www.tsn.ca/talent/hot-button-issues-final-awards-and-team-all-stars-1.175888

TSN's Button listed Rantanen to the second all-stars of the WJC. He was the only player with Canada's McDavid (2nd all-stars too) from this year's draft eligible players, who was included in these three all-stars lineups, and as you can see, e.g. Nylander & Petan were left behind. Great tournament indeed, and yesterday he was the best player of TPS in FEL-game, although he arrived to Finland from Canada just a day before the game. Didn't see any fatique at all, although he must have had some jet lag.

http://www.ruutu.fi/ohjelmat/sm-liiga/huippuhetket-blues-tps-512015 In this video you can see his nice goal from yesterday. (Between 1:31 and 1:56). He has really improved his skating from last year.
 
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ISS has him 5th atm. Stocks really raised with the WJC. Just imagine how good he´ll be in Helsinki next year. Geez, I really need to get me some tickets to there.. (And first European, but only Finnish on theyre list :( )

http://www.isshockey.com/
 
He is top 10 for sure. He has everything that NHL-club drools for. I would be highly suprised if he went outside of top 10.
 
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