Stars' Mikko Rantanen finished season with torn MCL; team wants Jason Robertson, Jamie Benn back
FRISCO, Texas — Mikko Rantanen sustained a torn MCL in his knee during the Olympics, an injury that Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill says kept their standout forward from being himself the rest of the season. Rantanen missed 15 games for the Stars after getting hurt while playing for bronze medal-winning Finland in February. He returned for the final 10 games of the regular season.
He only had one goal and four assists in that span, then one goal and six assists when they lost their first-round playoff series to Minnesota in six games. “Major injury. Came back, he’s very competitive,” Nill said during his season-ending availability.
“Did he come back too soon? Not too soon, but would have been nice to have one or two more weeks to really settle in. He never really got going again.
” In 54 games before the Olympics, Rantanen had 21 goals and 51 assists. The Stars got him in a deadline deal last season, signed him to an eight-year, $96 million extension, and he then an remarkable postseason with nine goals and 13 assists in 18 games when they made the Western Conference final for the third year in a row. Dallas was done after one round this year, and Rantanen wasn’t the only player dealing with a significant injury.
Nill said Rantanen didn’t have and won’t require any surgery, and will benefit from having some extended time off along with so many of their other players. “We never had one game where we had a full lineup this whole season and the playoffs,” Nill said “Hard to believe, I’ve never seen that before. ” The Stars also go into an offseason when 45-goal scorer Jason Robertson can become a restricted free agent and with longtime captain Jamie Benn pondering a decision on whether to return for an 18th NHL season, all in Dallas.