Don’t be concerned about Mikko Rantanen’s slow start with Stars

Should fans of the Dallas Stars be concerned about Mikko Rantanen’s slow start in the Lone Star State?

Since being acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes ahead of this year’s trade deadline, and subsequently signed to an eight-year, $12-million per year deal, Rantanen has scored twice and added three assists through eight appearances with Dallas, far off the 64-point showing he had through 49 games with the Colorado Avalanche earlier this season, as well as the back-to-back 100-plus point campaigns he had entering 2024-25. To note, prior to his arrival in Dallas, Rantanen registered two goals and four assists for six points in 13 games with the Hurricanes.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk chatted about whether the Stars should be concerned about their shiny acquisition or whether it’s too soon to panic.

Tyler Yaremchuk: A couple of trade deadline acquisitions that maybe aren’t fitting in as well as their new teams were hoping that they would. I am going to give you a question and on a scale of one to 10, you can give an answer, with one being, ‘Tyler, don’t even talk about it because it’s not a big deal’ and 10 being, ‘Nope, let’s sound some alarm bells here.’ Let’s start with Rantanen in Dallas. He has five points in eight games, but no five-on-five goals, just an empty netter and a powerplay goal. Are you at all concerned about how Rantanen is fitting in with another new team this year?

Frank Seravalli: This is a one and ‘don’t talk to me about it again’. Look, he’s signed for the next eight years, so nine playoff runs. Even if it is a problem – even if it is – it can’t be a problem.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here: