Mikko Rantanen did not confirm nor deny that Artturi Lehkonen’s return was why he broke through his goal-scoring drought against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, but he considered the possibility when I asked him if it was a coincidence.
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“It’s good to have him back. You know, maybe, I don’t know,” Rantanen said with a smile. “I don’t know — it was one of those stretches when you have a lot of chances, to hit the post quite a bit, and you just got to stay with it.”
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Looking at Rantanen’s statistics you wouldn’t think he was in a “slump.” The 28-year-old has 17 points (6G, 11A) in 14 games with three power-play goals. It is alarming though when he is held scoreless or goes a stretch of games without a goal.
“It’s not the first time for me. So kind of mental toughness you need, you just got to stay with it,” he said. “And as long as you get chances, and you create chances, the chances for yourself, eventually it’s gonna have to go in at some point. It might take a little bit longer, sometimes you go on a roll, and everything is going in from your shin pad so whatever.”
How Coach Jared Bednar Handles Rantanen’s Rut
The 6-foot-4 Finn had his second-best career season last year with 104 points which followed his career-best of 105 in the 2022-23 season. His production is fixed on the type of player he is and how he is structured.
“For Mikko, his offense comes when he’s driving his legs,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “When he gets the puck in motion, continues motion — when he’s willing to delay and skate out of things, when he’s willing to pack the puck with guys on his back and find openings in structure and find open players on the ice, when he’s going to the net hard — when he’s using his legs, he’s going to create scoring chances. His offensive opportunities will dry up when he’s not using his legs enough.”
Rantanen said he has to be mentally tough when he goes through these times, but Bednar said it’s not just the mentality aspect of it. Coaches are needed for a reason and this is a prime example.
“We saw that through some games, he’s aware of it. He’s made adjustments to it. He does have, like part of his DNA is to slow it down and make things happen. And there’s a cerebral part of his game,” Bednar said. “So I think you’re careful not to coach him too much because you want him to rely on his instincts, but at the same time, if it’s repeated over and over, period after period where he’s not skating enough, then he’s got to get his legs going.”
Bad Timing for Rantanen’s Woes
It’s not for lack of effort from the top-line right wing. He’s averaging 23:03 of ice time and has had to play harder with key players out of the lineup. Lehkonen is back in the lineup but the Avalanche are still missing Valeri Nichushkin (expected to return Nov. 15), Jonathan Drouin (day-to-day), Ross Colton (out until at least mid-December) and Gabriel Landeskog (no timeline). But he’s not one for excuses.
“There shouldn’t be excuses if you have injuries because it’s part of the sport,” Rantanen said. “You never really want to have excuses if you lose. But to have those three guys (Lehkonen, Nichushkin and Drouin) back at some point, it’s going to help our team, and then we just kind of play together and not change the mindset.”
The Avs’ struggle to start the season (6-8-0 for 12 points) hasn’t been a shock with all the missing pieces but Rantanen’s lack of production has been a bit of a surprise. Hopefully, that stint is over and he has his Finnish brethren to thank for that.
