Stars’ Mikko Rantanen to return after 15-game absence
The Dallas Stars are getting one of their most important players back for the stretch run of the regular season, as winger Mikko Rantanen is set to return to the lineup for Saturday night’s game on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
We have activated Mikko Rantanen off of IR 🚨
The Stars announced earlier Saturday that they have activated Rantanen from injured reserve. The 2015 first-round pick by the Colorado Avalanche has been out of action since suffering a lower-body injury while playing for Team Finland at the Olympics in February.
Prior to his injury, Rantanen was putting up excellent production in his first full season in Dallas. After being traded twice, from Colorado to the Carolina Hurricanes and then from the Hurricanes to the Stars, during the 2024-25 campaign, Rantanen has settled in nicely in the Lone Star State.
The 29-year-old has 69 points on 20 goals and 49 assists in 54 games played. Despite missing 18 games over the course of the year, he is still third on the team in points, trailing only Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston.
Rantanen’s return comes at a good time for Dallas, who largely continued to fare well in his absence, but have dropped each of their past three games.
The Stars are second in the division, conference and league standings behind only Colorado, though their grip on second in the NHL over the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes has loosened.
Dallas’ 43-18-11 mark currently gives them a three-point lead over the Minnesota Wild for second place in the Central Division.
The Stars and Wild are virtually certain to square off in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they have been for months. If what Rantanen gave Dallas last year in the playoffs, when he eliminated his old team with a Game 7 hat trick against Colorado in the first round, the Stars will have a solid chance to defeat Minnesota and potentially set up another iteration of the Colorado-Dallas rivalry in the postseason.