FRISCO, Texas (AP) — 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 had only 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 Thursday 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 a $96 million, eight-year 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.
“We want him to be a Dallas Star the rest of his career,” Nill said of Robertson, while adding they also want Benn back.
Top-line center Roope Hintz missed the first four games after the Olympics because of illness, then tore his left hamstring in two places on March 6 in his only game since. That was after the Stars in December lost Tyler Seguin to an ACL injury.
Miro Heiskanen, their top defenseman, missed the final three games of the regular season after an oblique tear and then sprained an ankle during the playoffs.
Radek Faksa suffered a concussion during the Olympics and then when getting close to returning for the Stars suffered a laceration on his foot after it was sliced by a skate. He played the last two regular-season games and throughout the playoffs, but Nill said the still serious injury may require further surgery.
Midseason acquisition Michael Bunting played only one playoff game after a groin injury late in the season.
Nill said defenseman Nils Lundkvist, who took a skate to his face in Game 4 against the Wild, could have possibly returned had that series gotten to a Game 7.
“A very lucky man. The skate ended up hitting him, really hit into him more than anything,” Nill said. “He had stitches inside and outside, but he also had a concussion.”
