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Mikko Rantanen

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Mikko Rantanen
Born (1996-10-29) 29 October 1996 (age 28)
Nousiainen, Finland
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 216 lb (98 kg; 15 st 6 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Colorado Avalanche
TPS
National team  Finland
NHL draft 10th overall, 2015
Colorado Avalanche
Playing career 2012–present

Mikko Rantanen (born 29 October 1996) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward. He is currently playing for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the first round, 10th overall, by the Avalanche in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Rantanen made his professional Finnish SM-liiga debut as a 16-year-old playing with HC TPS during the 2012–13 season.[1] Rantanen had played with TPS from a youth of 14-years old at the under-16 level. In 15 games he impressively scored 2 goals and 3 points.

Rantanen at the 2016 AHL All-Stars Game. Rantanen was the second-youngest participant to have ever participated at the event.

Entering the 2014–15 season as the only 17-year-old to play in his third year with TPS, Rantanen signed a two-year extension to remain with the Liiga outfit on 9 October 2014.[2] Through using his big frame and physical play, Rantanen recorded career high 9 goals and 28 points in 56 games, also serving as an Alternate captain. Rantanen also featured for TPS junior club in the post-season recording 14 points in 7 contests to help capture the Championship and was given Best Player honors for his efforts.

In his NHL draft eligible year, he was rated as the top European skater at season's end.[3] He was the first European based player selected when he was taken 10th overall by the Colorado Avalanche at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft on 26 June 2015.[4]

On 13 July 2015, Rantanen was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche.[5] After attending his first Avalanche training camp, and impressing in the pre-season, Rantanen was announced to have made the opening night roster for the 2015–16 season as an 18-year old on 6 October 2015.[6][7] On 8 October 2015, Rantanen made his NHL debut to open the season with the Avalanche in a 5-4 defeat to the Minnesota Wild.[8] Rantanen was used in a depth role and played limited minutes over six scoreless games with Colorado before he was sent to AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage on 22 October 2015.[9]

In his AHL debut, Rantanen contributed with his first goal and assist in North America during a 5-1 victory over the Stockton Heat on 24 October 2015.[10] He continued his scoring pace with the Rampage, leading the club in all offensive categories before he was selected to the AHL All-Star Game as the second-youngest participant in the event's modern history.[11] After receiving a three-game recall to the Avalanche, Rantanen was returned to complete the season with San Antonio, becoming just the seventh teenager to reach the 60 point mark in 52 games.[12] In finishing 6th in overall scoring he earned a selection to the Second All-Star Team and shared the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award, alongside Frank Vatrano as the League's rookie of the year.[13]

On 11 November 2016, Rantanen scored his first NHL goal 1:03 into the second period in a game against the Winnipeg Jets. The Avalanche would go on to win the game 3–2 in overtime.[14] He recorded his first NHL hat-trick on 8 February 2017 in a 4–0 win over the Montreal Canadiens.[15]

International play

Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2016 Russia
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Finland

Rantanen was introduced and developed as a youth in the Finnish national junior under-16 program. He was first selected at an international tournament at the 2013 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, tallying 7 points in 5 contests. He went on to lead the team at the under-18 level with 7 points in 4 games at the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament before competing in his first full IIHF competition at the 2014 IIHF World U18 Championships.

Rantanen continued his progression within the Finnish junior team in earning selection to the 2015 World Junior Championships in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[16] Despite a disappointing seventh-place finish, Rantanen contributed with 4 goals in 5 games to earn a top 3 player on team selection.[17]

During his first North American professional season and while eligible for his final junior tournament, Rantanen was loaned by the Colorado Avalanche to Captain the Finnish junior team as they hosted the 2016 World Junior Championships.[18][19] While adding a stabilising veteran presence, Rantanen played a supporting role throughout the round-robin stage before stepping up his production in the Semi-final against Sweden and scoring in the Final against Russia to help Finland claim the gold medal and cap his junior career.[20][21]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 TPS Jr. A 35 10 14 24 14 9 2 4 6 4
2012–13 TPS SM-l 15 2 1 3 4 — — — — —
2013–14 TPS Jr. A 17 5 13 18 8 3 2 1 3 0
2013–14 TPS Liiga 37 5 4 9 10 — — — — —
2014–15 TPS Liiga 56 9 19 28 22 — — — — —
2014–15 TPS Jr. A — — — — — 7 6 8 14 2
2015–16 Colorado Avalanche NHL 9 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2015–16 San Antonio Rampage AHL 52 24 36 60 42 — — — — —
2016–17 San Antonio Rampage AHL 4 0 2 2 4 — — — — —
2016–17 Colorado Avalanche NHL 75 20 18 38 22 — — — — —
2017–18 Colorado Avalanche NHL 81 29 55 84 34 6 0 4 4 0
Liiga totals 108 16 24 40 36 — — — — —
NHL totals 165 49 73 122 58 6 0 4 4 0

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2013 Finland U17 7th 5 2 5 7 22
2013 Finland IH18 5th 4 3 4 7 0
2014 Finland WJC18 6th 5 3 2 5 0
2015 Finland WJC 7th 5 4 0 4 2
2016 Finland WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 2 3 5 2
2016 Finland WC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 0 1 1 2
2017 Finland WC 4th 10 4 6 10 0
2018 Finland WC 5th 8 5 6 11 6
Junior totals 26 14 14 28 26
Senior totals 23 9 13 22 8

Awards and honours

Award Year
AHL
All-Star Game 2016
All-Rookie Team 2016
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award 2016 [13]
Second All-Star Team 2016 [12]

References

  1. ^ "2012–13 HC TPS player statistics". Eliteprospects.com. 1 April 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Ranatanen signs two-year extension" (in Finnish). HC TPS. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "NHL Central's final rankings". National Hockey League. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "Avalanche selects Mikko Rantanen in first round". Colorado Avalanche. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Avalanche Signs Mikko Rantanen". Colorado Avalanche. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  6. ^ "Colorado Avalanche opening night roster" (PDF). Colorado Avalanche. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Mikko Rantanen, 18, makes Avalanche opening night roster". Denver Post. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "Parise, Wild rally to stun Avalanche". National Hockey League. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "Avalanche swap Mikko Rantanen for Dennis Everberg". runningwiththeherd.com. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "Rampage dominate the Heat". American Hockey League. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Marrazza, Dan (2 February 2016). "Mikko Rantanen A Historic AHL All-Star". NHL.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  12. ^ a b "First, Second Team All-Stars announced". American Hockey League. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ a b "Rantanen, Vatrano share Garrett Award". American Hockey League. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ Knabenbauer, Ron (12 November 2016). "Rantanen Scores Gorgeous First NHL Goal". NHL.com. NHL.com. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  15. ^ Sadowski, Rick (8 February 2017). "Mikko Rantanen hat trick boosts Avalanche". NHL.com. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  16. ^ "Finland's Rantanen puts on a show at World Juniors". National Hockey League. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Best player of each team selected" (PDF). International Ice Hockey Federation. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "Avalanche will loan Rantanen to Finland's World Junior Team". The Score. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "Rantanen raring to go". International Ice Hockey Federation. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ "Kapanen, Rantanen help Finns to Gold". American Hockey League. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "Prospects take home medals from WJC's". Colorado Avalanche. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Colorado Avalanche first round draft pick
2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by AHL Rookie of the Year
2015–16 (with Frank Vatrano) 		Succeeded by
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