NHL Insights: Mikko Rantanen, William Nylander, and Carter Verhaeghe
Welcome to another edition of NHL Insights. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are into Round 2, and some players stand out. These players continue to prove they can do it when it matters most in the playoffs.
In this edition, we dive into the play of Mikko Rantanen, William Nylander, and Carter Verhaeghe.
When we look at the Stanley Cup Playoffs, we always look to the big stars to deliver when the lights shine the brightest. Most of the time, the guys get paid the most. Money should not be the determining factor in whether or not a player steps up in the playoffs. But everybody looks to see how much said player is worth when he does not perform.
However, these players have a knack for being clutch no matter what they were making. These players love the big moments and take their game to another level, as Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant did in the NBA.
In this edition of NHL Insights, we look at the play of Mikko Rantanen, William Nylander, and Carter Verhaeghe.
It's time to dive into some NHL Insights for this week.
NHL Insights: Crosby, Ovechkin, and Tavares
MIkko Rantanen
Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer told the media after Game 3 of Round 2 against the Winnipeg Jets that Mikko Rantanen is just getting started and warmed up. I think he is on a mission.
Rantanen has 17 points in his last six playoff games for the Stars. Over that stretch, he has nine goals, eight assists, two game-winning goals, and two hat tricks. He has scored or assisted on 15 of the last 17 goals the Stars have scored in the playoffs.
At one point, he factored in on 12 straight Dallas Stars goals with back-to-back four-point periods and back-to-back hat tricks. As Full Press Media wrote last week, he comes up clutch in the playoffs, whether for the Colorado Avalanche or the Dallas Stars. Rantanen has 18 points (nine goals and nine assists) and currently leads all players in the playoffs.
Remember, Rantanen was a member of the Colorado Avalanche at the beginning of the season before they decided they did not want to pay him, so they traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Rantanen would not sign long-term in Carolina, so the Hurricanes traded him to Dallas, and the Stars are reaping the reward. And the Stars have him for eight more seasons at $12 million a season.
Remember, Rantanen was a factor in the Avalanche playoffs before Colorado traded him. Even Nazem Kadri knew not to get rid of him. During the Avalanche’s last run to the Stanley Cup in 2022, Rantanen finished with 25 points. That was just four behind Cale Makar, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy.
When the Stars need a point during their current run, there is Rantanen. He wants to prove he isn’t a product of Nathan MacKinnon and can win alone.
Around Full Press Hockey
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William Nylander
William Nylander remains the best player for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For all the talk about Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner not getting it done in the playoffs, Nylander has been the constant, dating back to when the “Core 4 or 5” got together.
While Marner has stepped up his game to a point, he can do more. However, some thought Nylander did not have a killer instinct in the playoffs. Those people either don’t want the playoffs or look at stats. But if you look at the statistics, you will see that Nylander has been consistent every year in the playoffs for Toronto, while others have their production dip.
This season, Nylander leads the Maple Leafs in the playoffs with 15 points (six goals and nine assists). Not only does Nylander lead the team in playoff points, but also in goals with six. He has 58 points (26 goals and 32 assists) for his career, averaging .92 points per game.
Though Marner averages .94 points per game over that period, Nylander has missed some games in the playoffs. However, Nylander has been the best player for the Maple Leafs despite that stat. He is always noticeable, unlike Matthews and Marner.
Last year in the playoffs against the Boston Bruins, Nylander had three goals in the series final two games, including two in an elimination game in Game 6. He also scored the lone goal for the Maple Leafs in Game 7. Nylander could deliver for Toronto in the big moments even after missing the series' first three games.
In 10 playoff games, 1.50 points per game after being held pointless in Game 4 of Round 2 against the Panthers. He had chances in Games 3 and 4 to win or tie the game. Nylander was all over the ice. Leafs head coach Craig Berube had him out every third shift. Nylander was generating scoring chances. Even though the Leafs didn’t score, Nylander made plays to get the equalizer.
There is a reason he signed an eight-year extension to remain in a Maple Leafs uniform. He was built to play in Toronto during the big moments of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Carter Verhaeghe
The defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers have a playoff performer in Carter Verhaeghe. There is a reason he is called Mr. Playoff.
Though his play dipped a bit, Verhaeghe is stepping up for the Panthers in the playoffs. With his goal in Game 4 of Round 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, he has points in six of his last seven games, including four goals over that stretch. Verhaeghe helped lead the comeback in Game 3, where the Panthers got back in the series.
The two-time Stanley Cup Champion has reached a milestone, recording 30 goals in the postseason. He is now one of 36 players with at least that many goals in the playoffs.
But it is not that he has scored 30 goals in the postseason; it is the timing of the goals for the Panthers in the playoffs. He is coming up with big goals in the big moments for the Florida Panthers, dating back to the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
His first few playoff seasons were uneventful, but in 2022, he earned the nickname “Mr. Playoff.” When Florida won the Presidents’ Trophy in the 2021-22 season, the Panthers struggled in Round 1 against Washington that year.
With the Panthers trailing 2-1 and on the verge of going home, the legend that was Carter Verhaeghe was born. Verhaeghe scored the overtime-winning goal, his second of the game, to tie the series at 2-2. In the Panthers 5-3 win in Game 5, he had a five-goal performance in Game 5. Then, in Game 6, he sent the Florida Panthers to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1996. He finished the 2022 playoffs with 12 points (six goals and six assists).
Then, in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he put up 17 points (seven goals and 10 assists), including the overtime series-clinching winning goal against the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the first round. Carter Verhaeghe became the first player in the Panthers’ history to have multiple series-clinching goals.
Verhaeghe’s play carried into the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where he had 21 points (11 goals and 10 assists), including two points (one goal and one assist) in Game 7 when the Panthers clinched their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. He earned himself a new deal.
When the Panthers need a big goal, Carter Verhaeghe comes up clutch. There is a reason why he has become a playoff performer.
Again, what Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have done in the playoffs could have been featured in this edition of NHL Insights. There is still time.
But that does it for this edition of NHL Insights. Stay tuned for another edition as the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue.
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