Mikko Rantanen

Mikko Rantanen
Born (1996-10-29) October 29, 1996
Nousiainen, Finland
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 209 lb (95 kg; 14 st 13 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 October 29, 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.

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 subsequently 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. 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.[11] 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.[12]

International play
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
World Championships
2016 Russia
World Junior Championships
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, Canada.[13] Despite a disappointing seventh-place finish, Rantanen contributed with 4 goals in 5 games to earn a top 3 player on team selection.[14]

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.[15][16] 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.[17][18]

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 — — — — —
Liiga totals 108 16 24 40 36 — — — — —
NHL totals 9 0 0 0 2 — — — — —

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, gold medalist(s) 7 2 3 5 2
2016 Finland WC 2nd, silver medalist(s) 5 0 1 1 2
Junior totals 26 14 14 28 26
Senior totals 5 0 1 1 2

Awards and honours

Award Year
AHL
All-Star Game 2016
All-Rookie Team 2016
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award 2016 [12]
Second All-Star Team 2016 [11]

References

  1. ↑ "2012–13 HC TPS player statistics". Eliteprospects.com. 2013-04-01. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  2. ↑ "Ranatanen signs two-year extension" (in Finnish). HC TPS. 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2014-10-09.
  3. ↑ "NHL Central's final rankings". National Hockey League. 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  4. ↑ "Avalanche selects Mikko Rantanen in first round". Colorado Avalanche. 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-06-26.
  5. ↑ "Avalanche Signs Mikko Rantanen". Colorado Avalanche. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "Colorado Avalanche opening night roster" (PDF). Colorado Avalanche. 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
  7. ↑ "Mikko Rantanen, 18, makes Avalanche opening night roster". Denver Post. 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
  8. ↑ "Parise, Wild rally to stun Avalanche". National Hockey League. 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
  9. ↑ "Avalanche swap Mikko Rantanen for Dennis Everberg". runningwiththeherd.com. 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  10. ↑ "Rampage dominate the Heat". American Hockey League. 2015-10-24. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  11. 1 2 "First, Second Team All-Stars announced". American Hockey League. 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  12. 1 2 "Rantanen, Vatrano share Garrett Award". American Hockey League. 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  13. ↑ "Finland's Rantanen puts on a show at World Juniors". National Hockey League. 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
  14. ↑ "Best player of each team selected" (PDF). International Ice Hockey Federation. 2015-02-07. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
  15. ↑ "Avalanche will loan Rantanen to Finland's World Junior Team". The Score. 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  16. ↑ "Rantanen raring to go". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2016-01-05. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
  17. ↑ "Kapanen, Rantanen help Finns to Gold". American Hockey League. 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  18. ↑ "Prospects take home medals from WJC's". Colorado Avalanche. 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Conner Bleackley		 Colorado Avalanche first round draft pick
2015 		Succeeded by
Tyson Jost
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