Stars’ $96M Rantanen Bet Paying Off Big at Other Teams’ Expense

Revenge is a dish best served on ice for Mikko Rantanen. The Stars forward has had second helpings as one of the Stanley Cup playoffs’ best players, capping off a turbulent—and ultimately lucrative—season.

In late January, the Avalanche unexpectedly moved Finnish-born Rantanen, who’d played with Colorado since he was drafted as the 10th pick in 2015. The 28-year-old entered this season in the final year of his six-year, $55.5 million contract with Colorado, set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

He and the Avalanche could not come to terms, with Rantanen reportedly asking for an eight-year extension valued around $112 million, a sum that would have eclipsed Hart Trophy–winning teammate Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6 million average annual value and put Colorado on the back foot ahead of upcoming negotiations with standout defender Cale Makar.

When talks stalled, Rantanen was traded to the Hurricanes in January—but after making clear he would not re-up with Carolina, he was quickly flipped to the Stars, where he signed an eight-year, $96 million contract, $2 million per season less than his reported ask in Colorado. Sportsnet reported that he would have stayed in Colorado for the same offer. The move got bad blood flowing: Upon landing with the Avalanche’s bitter division rivals, Rantanen reportedly said, “Do you know why I’m going to Dallas? Because I want to jam it down Colorado’s throat.”

Rantanen has since gotten exactly what he wanted. 

In the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against Colorado, he had 12 points, 11 of which came in the final three games—including a hat trick and an assist in Game 7, when the Stars staged a stunning comeback on Avs home ice to take the series in storybook fashion. Then, in Wednesday’s opening second-round game against the Presidents’ Trophy–winning Jets, Rantanen notched another natural hat trick—becoming one of only four players to score multiple career hat tricks in one period in the playoffs.

Dallas is seeing green: The Finn has made the Stars the current favorites to win the Stanley Cup, even as defenseman Miro Heiskanen is still out of the lineup with an injury, and Jason Robertson has just returned to play after his own injury absence. Rantanen is also among the top players favored to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, the playoff MVP award.

Regardless of whether they bring home the Stanley Cup on this run, the Stars, who have lost in the Stanley Cup Final once and in the conference finals twice since 2020, are set up as well as nearly any team going forward. Along with extending Rantanen’s contract through the 2032–2033 season, Dallas has also locked forward Wyatt Johnston into a five-year, $42 million deal through 2029–2030. In October, goaltender Jake Oettinger signed an eight-year extension at $66 million, which runs through the end of the 2032–2033 season.