‘It ain’t over yet’: Why Mookie Betts was dead set on returning to shortstop
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Alden Gonzalez
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Sometime around mid-August last year, Mookie Betts convened with the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ coaches. He had taken stock of what transpired while he rehabbed a broken wrist, surveyed his team’s roster and accepted what had become plainly obvious: He needed to return to right field.
For the better part of five months, Betts had immersed himself in the painstaking task of learning shortstop in the midst of a major league season. It was a process that humbled him but also invigorated him, one he had desperately wanted to see through. On the day he gave it up, Chris Woodward, at that point an adviser who had intermittently helped guide Betts through the transition, sought him out. He shook Betts’ hand, told him how much he respected his efforts and thanked him for the work.
“Oh, it ain’t over yet,” Betts responded. “For now it’s over, but we’re going to win the World Series, and then I’m coming back.”
Woodward, now the Dodgers’ full-time first-base coach and infield instructor, recalled that conversation from the team’s spring training complex at Camelback Ranch last week and smiled while thinking about how those words had come to fruition. The Dodgers captured a championship last fall, then promptly determined that Betts, the perennial Gold Glove outfielder heading into his age-32 season, would be the every-day shortstop on one of the most talented baseball teams ever assembled.
From November to February, Betts visited high school and collegiate infields throughout the L.A. area on an almost daily basis in an effort to solidify the details of a transition he did not have time to truly prepare for last season.
Pedro Montero, one of the Dodgers’ video coordinators, placed an iPad onto a tripod and aimed its camera in Betts’ direction while he repeatedly pelted baseballs into the ground with a fungo bat, then sent Woodward the clips to review from his home in Arizona. The three spoke almost daily.
By the time Betts arrived in spring training, Woodward noticed a “night and day” difference from one year to the next. But he still acknowledges the difficulty of what Betts is undertaking, and he noted that meaningful games will ultimately serve as the truest arbiter.
The Dodgers have praised Betts for an act they described as unselfish, one that paved the way for both Teoscar Hernandez and Michael Conforto to join their corner outfield and thus strengthen their lineup. Betts himself has said his move to shortstop is a function of doing “what I feel like is best for the team.” But it’s also clear that shouldering that burden — and all the second-guessing and scrutiny that will accompany it — is something he wants.
He wants to be challenged. He wants to prove everybody wrong. He wants to bolster his legacy.
“Mookie wants to be the best player in baseball, and I don’t see why he wouldn’t want that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think if you play shortstop, with his bat, that gives him a better chance.”
ONLY 21 PLAYERS since 1900 have registered 100 career games in right field and 100 career games at shortstop, according to ESPN Research. It’s a list compiled mostly of lifelong utility men. The only one among them who came close to following Betts’ path might have been Tony Womack, an every-day right fielder in his age-29 season and an every-day shortstop in the three years that followed. But Womack had logged plenty of professional shortstop experience before then.
Through his first 12 years in professional baseball, Betts accumulated just 13 starts at shortstop, all of them in rookie ball and Low-A from 2011 to 2012. His path — as a no-doubt Hall of Famer and nine-time Gold Glove right fielder who will switch to possibly the sport’s most demanding position in his 30s — is largely without precedent. And yet the overwhelming sense around the Dodgers is that if anyone can pull it off, it’s him.
“Mookie’s different,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “I think this kind of challenge is really fun for him. I think he just really enjoys it. He’s had to put in a lot of hard work — a lot of work that people haven’t seen — but I just think he’s such a different guy when it comes to the challenge of it that he’s really enjoying it. When you look at how he approaches it, he’s having so much fun trying to get as good as he can be. There’s not really any question in anyone’s mind here that he’s going to be a very good defensive shortstop.”
Betts entered the 2024 season as the primary second baseman, a position to which he had long sought a return, but transitioned to shortstop on March 8, 12 days before the Dodgers would open their season from South Korea, after throwing issues began to plague Gavin Lux. Almost every day for the next three months, Betts put himself through a rigorous pregame routine alongside teammate Miguel Rojas and third-base coach Dino Ebel in an effort to survive at the position.
The metrics were unfavorable, scouts were generally unimpressed and traditional statistics painted an unflattering picture — all of which was to be expected. Simply put, Betts did not have the reps. He hadn’t spent significant time at shortstop since he was a teenager at Overton High School in Nashville, Tennessee. He was attempting to cram years of experience through every level of professional baseball into the space allotted to him before each game, a task that proved impossible.
Betts committed nine errors during his time at shortstop, eight of them the result of errant throws. He often lacked the proper footwork to put himself in the best position to throw accurately across the diamond, but the Dodgers were impressed by how quickly he seemed to grasp other aspects of the position that seemed more difficult for others — pre-pitch timing, range, completion of difficult plays.
Shortly after the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees to win their first full-season championship since 1988, Betts sat down with Dodgers coaches and executives and expressed his belief that, if given the proper time, he would figure it out. And so it was.
“If Mook really wants to do something, he’s going to do everything he can to be an elite, elite shortstop,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “I’m not going to bet against that guy.”
THE FIRST TASK was determining what type of shortstop Betts would be. Woodward consulted with Ryan Goins, the current Los Angeles Angels infield coach who is one of Betts’ best friends. The two agreed that he should play “downhill,” attacking the baseball, making more one-handed plays and throwing largely on the run, a style that fit better for a transitioning outfielder.
During a prior stint on the Dodgers’ coaching staff, Woodward — the former Texas Rangers manager who rejoined the Dodgers staff after Los Angeles’ previous first-base coach, Clayton McCullough, became the Miami Marlins‘ manager in the offseason — implemented the same style with Corey Seager, who was widely deemed too tall to remain a shortstop.
“He doesn’t love the old-school, right-left, two-hands, make-sure-you-get-in-front-of-the-ball type of thing,” Woodward said of Betts. “It doesn’t make sense to him. And I don’t coach that way. I want them to be athletic, like the best athlete they can possibly be, so that way they can use their lower half, get into their legs, get proper direction through the baseball to line to first. And that’s what Mookie’s really good at.”
Dodger Stadium underwent a major renovation of its clubhouse space over the offseason, making the field unusable and turning Montero and Betts into nomads. From the second week of November through the first week of February, the two trained at Crespi Carmelite High School near Betts’ home in Encino, California, then Sierra Canyon, Los Angeles Valley College and, finally, Loyola High.
For a handful of days around New Year’s, Betts flew to Austin, Texas, to get tutelage from Troy Tulowitzki, the five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove Award winner whose mechanics Betts was drawn to. In early January, when wildfires spread through the L.A. area, Betts flew to Glendale, Arizona, to train with Woodward in person.
Mostly, though, it was Montero as the eyes and ears on the ground and Woodward as the adviser from afar. Their sessions normally lasted about two hours in the morning, evolving from three days a week to five and continually ramping up in intensity. The goal for the first two months was to hone the footwork skills required to make a variety of different throws, but also to give Betts plenty of reps on every ground ball imaginable.
When January came, Betts began to carve out a detailed, efficient routine that would keep him from overworking when the games began. It accounted for every situation, included backup scenarios for uncontrollable events — when it rained, when there wasn’t enough time, when pregame batting practice stretched too long — and was designed to help Betts hold up. What was once hundreds of ground balls was pared down to somewhere in the neighborhood of 35, but everything was accounted for.
LAST YEAR, BETTS’ throws were especially difficult for Freddie Freeman to catch at first base, often cutting or sailing or darting. But when Freeman joined Betts in spring training, he noticed crisp throws that consistently arrived with backspin and almost always hit the designated target. Betts was doing a better job of getting his legs under him on batted balls hit in a multitude of directions. Also, Rojas said, he “found his slot.”
“Technically, talking about playing shortstop, finding your slot is very important because you’re throwing the ball from a different position than when you throw it from right field,” Rojas explained. “You’re not throwing the ball from way over the top or on the bottom. So he’s finding a slot that is going to work for him. He’s understanding now that you need a slot to throw the ball to first base, you need a slot to throw the ball to second base, you need a slot to throw the ball home and from the side.”
Dodgers super-utility player Enrique Hernandez has noticed a “more loose” Betts at shortstop this spring. Roberts said Betts is “two grades better” than he was last year, before a sprained left wrist placed him on the injured list on June 17 and prematurely ended his first attempt. Before reporting to spring training, Betts described himself as “a completely new person over there.”
“But we’ll see,” he added.
The games will be the real test. At that point, Woodward said, it’ll largely come down to trusting the work he has put in over the past four months. Betts is famously hard on himself, and so Woodward has made it a point to remind him that, as long as his process is sound, imperfection is acceptable.
“This is dirt,” Woodward will often tell him. “This isn’t perfect.”
The Dodgers certainly don’t need Betts to be their shortstop. If it doesn’t work out, he can easily slide back to second base. Rojas, the superior defender whose offensive production prompted Betts’ return to right field last season, can fill in on at least a part-time basis. So can Tommy Edman, who at this point will probably split his time between center field and second base, and so might Hyeseong Kim, the 26-year-old middle infielder who was signed out of South Korea this offseason.
But it’s clear Betts wants to give it another shot.
As Roberts acknowledged, “He certainly felt he had unfinished business.”
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Kristen Shilton
Boos rained down at the final horn in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night as the Maple Leafs moved closer to extending their 57-year Stanley Cup drought with a 6-1 blowout loss to the Panthers.
Fans even threw their jerseys on the ice as Toronto saw its 2-0 series lead turn into a 3-2 deficit. But coach Craig Berube wants his players to get out of their heads for now.
“That last game was overthinking and not playing hockey,” he said. “Right now, [players] need to stick together tonight as a team and take a breath. Stop thinking about the game. Relax. We’ll get thinking about the game when it matters.”
To get back to Toronto for a Game 7, the Leafs will have to win in Florida, but they likely won’t have starting goaltender Anthony Stolarz. He has been sidelined since Game 1 of the series with an undisclosed injury. He resumed skating over the weekend and was on the ice for a 30-minute workout on Thursday, but Berube doubted Stolarz would join the Leafs in Florida for Game 6.
That leaves his replacement Joseph Woll, who gave up five goals on 25 shots Wednesday.
Players met after the game to break down what went wrong, and Berube had a team meeting planned for Thursday after the Leafs landed back in Fort Lauderdale.
“A loss is a loss,” Berube said. “If we [had] lost 2-1 [on Wednesday] and it was a close game, would it really matter today? We got beat. I’ve been in this situation before. We’re all going to be down and dejected, but we can’t be. We have to regroup.”
That includes the Leafs’ top skaters. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander have failed to score against Florida.
In Game 5, the Panthers repeatedly stymied Toronto’s rush attempts and pounded them with a smothering forecheck that left the Leafs reeling offensively.
Meanwhile, Florida peppered Woll until defenseman Aaron Ekblad broke through with the game’s first goal late in the first period. Toronto’s own mistakes — including a Dmitry Kulikov shot beating Woll off the stick of Leafs’ forward Scott Laughton and a baffling turnover by Marner in his own zone to set up a Jesper Boqvist strike — led to a three-goal second period. After AJ Greer made it 5-1 Florida with his first-ever playoff goal, Woll was gone in favor of Matt Murray.
“[It was] very disappointing,” said Morgan Rielly. “But at the end of the day, whether we lost the way we lost last night or we lost in overtime, whatever it is, we’re still in a position where we’re ready to fight. We have to go down there [to Florida] and play our best game. We can’t dwell on all sorts of [other] things.”
The Leafs were in control of the series against Florida early on, collecting wins in Games 1 and 2 and mounting multi-goal leads in Game 3. It was late in that outing though when Florida flipped the switch — and they haven’t looked back. The Panthers rallied in the second period of Game 3 to score three goals and take their first lead of the night. Rielly’s goal at the midway point of the third period tied the game and forced overtime, but Brad Marchand scored the game-winner for Florida.
That Rielly marker would stand as Toronto’s last goal on Sergei Bobrovsky for nearly six periods of hockey. Toronto was shutout 2-0 by the Panthers in Game 4 and were dangerously close to being blanked again if not for Nick Robertson’s marker late in Game 5.
Bobrovsky struggled to open the series against the Leafs, allowing nine goals in the first two games for an .820 SV%, but he has slammed the door since late in that Game 3 win. He has turned aside 54 of 55 shots through Games 4 and 5 for a .982 SV%.
Robertson’s goal did little for the fans.
“It’s tough,” said Rielly. “But [fans] have the right to do what they want to do. We need to improve and play better. We expect to have a team that’s going to go out and win and compete. When that doesn’t happen, everyone is upset.”
Rielly is the longest-tenured member of the Leafs and has experienced the many highs and lows Toronto has endured trying to exorcise past playoff demons. Brandon Carlo — acquired at the March trade deadline — is newer to Toronto’s history but shared Rielly’s view that, despite the emphatic fan response to their poor performance, it’s not something that should linger.
“In a game like that, you don’t want to overthink those things too much,” said Carlo of the extracurriculars. “It is a passionate fanbase … there’s going to be ups and downs for sure, but from the standpoint of playoff series in the past, I’ve been in these situations myself. Had bad games in the playoffs; it’s not just subject to this group by any means. I think that needs to be taken into account, too.”
The second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs has reached the point where elimination games will be played every night. Thursday night, it’s an elimination doubleheader.
First up are the Washington Capitals, down 3-1 and hosting the Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET, TNT). In the nightcap, the Winnipeg Jets are in a similar scenario, down 3-1 at home hosting the Dallas Stars (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
Will either team force a Game 6?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, a recap of what went down in Wednesday’s games and the three stars of Wednesday from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals
Game 5 | 7 p.m. ET | TNT
Leading 3-1 heading into this game, the Hurricanes are -4000 to win the series, per ESPN BET, while the Caps are +1300. The Canes have the third-shortest odds to win the Cup (+325), while the Caps have the longest (+7500).
The Canes are 8-0 in best-of-seven series in which they held a 3-1 lead; in Stanley Cup playoff history at large, teams that hold a 3-1 lead have gone on to win 91% of the time.
Carolina’s Frederik Andersen had a 21-save shutout in Game 3, then didn’t allow a goal until the third period of Game 4. His shutout streak ended at 123:24, which was fifth longest in Whalers/Hurricanes franchise history.
Seth Jarvis‘ goal to make it 2-0 Hurricanes in Game 4 was the 16th of his postseason career, the most in franchise history for a player before his 24th birthday.
Alex Ovechkin has been somewhat quiet this round for Washington, but his power-play goal in Game 4 earned him higher positioning on two all-time lists. He now has 77 career postseason goals, putting him 12th all time (breaking a tie with Mario Lemieux), and his 31 career power-play goals are now alone in fifth place all-time (breaking a tie with Nicklas Lidstrom and Joe Pavelski).
Dallas Stars at Winnipeg Jets
Game 5 | 9:30 p.m. ET | TNT
Following their Game 4 win, the Stars’ odds to win the series shifted to -1200, while the Jets’ are now +600. Dallas’ Cup-winning odds shifted to +275, while Winnipeg’s are now +4000.
In franchise history, the Stars have gone 13-1 in best-of-seven series when leading 3-1. Their lone series loss came as the Minnesota North Stars against the Detroit Red Wings in 1992.
Mikael Granlund‘s hat trick in the Stars’ Game 4 win included two power-play goals. That made him the second player in North Stars/Stars history with two power-play goals as part of a hat trick — Dino Ciccarelli accomplished the feat in 1982.
Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen continues to dominate the postseason. He’s atop the leaderboard for points (19) and goals (nine), and has the shortest odds to win the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP (+375).
With the Stars’ Game 4 win, Jake Oettinger became the third goaltender in North Stars/Stars franchise history to win five straight home games to begin a postseason, joining Ed Belfour (six straight in 2000, five in 1999) and Cesare Maniago (five in 1968).
The Jets will be glad to play at home again. They have gone 0-5 on the road this postseason, and have been outscored 25-8.
Kyle Connor enters Game 5 one goal behind Paul Stastny (2018) for second on the single-postseason franchise goal-scoring leaderboard, with five. Mark Scheifele (14, in 2018) appears safe at No. 1 unless the Jets can rally to make the conference finals.
Öcal’s three stars from Wednesday
1. Panthers defensemen
In addition to keeping the Maple Leafs at bay until it was too late it didn’t really matter, three Cats defensemen scored goals in Game 5, tying franchise record for most in a single playoff game.
Kapanen scored the series-clinching goal in OT against the Golden Knights — and was +4000 to do it, per ESPN BET. Fans of junior hockey will remember he also scored the golden goal in the 2016 IIHF world junior championship against Russia.
3. Florida scores by committee
An amazing 14 Panthers had one or more points in this game, which is the most in a single game in franchise history — 12 Panthers had a point in Game 3 of this series.
Wednesday’s recaps
Florida Panthers 6, Toronto Maple Leafs 1
FLA leads 3-2 | Game 6 Friday
While this series had previously been close, Game 5 was a one-sided affair. The Panthers were successfully keeping the Leafs from generating much offense, while also knocking on the offensive door themselves repeatedly. Aaron Ekblad finally broke the seal at 14:38 of the first after sustained pressure in the Toronto zone, and it was off to the races after that. Dmitry Kulikov, Jesper Boqvist and Niko Mikkola added goals in the second period, with A.J. Greer and Sam Bennett joining the party in the third. It was the first goal of the postseason for Kulikov, Boqvist, Mikkola and Greer. Nicholas Robertson would add a tally for the Leafs with just over a minute remaining, but that was far too little, far too late. The Panthers can put an end to this series at home in Game 6. Full recap.
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Sam Bennett slots home a 6th goal for Panthers
Sam Bennett stuns the Toronto crowd with the Panthers’ sixth goal vs. the Maple Leafs.
Edmonton Oilers 1, Vegas Golden Knights 0 (OT
EDM wins 4-1, faces DAL or WPG next
Throughout this series, the Oilers’ depth has shown up to help the scoring burden on the top stars; the same cannot be said for the Golden Knights’ depth — and Vegas’ stars didn’t have the greatest series either. For the second straight game, no Vegas player could solve Stuart Skinner in the Edmonton cage, which meant that the Oilers needed just one goal to take the W. It took 67:19 of playing time to find that goal, but Kasperi Kapanen scored the opportunistic game- and series-winning tally. It was the second career overtime game-winning goal for Kapanen (his first was in 2017, with the Maple Leafs). The Oilers are on to the Western Conference finals for the second straight year, and will take on the winner of the Dallas Stars–Winnipeg Jets series. Full recap.
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Oilers call series after Kasperi Kapanen scores OT winner
Kasperi Kapanen somehow gets his stick on the puck last on a scramble in overtime as the Oilers clinch the series vs. the Golden Knights.
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Greg Wyshynski
DALLAS — Before he became the most dominant player in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, Mikko Rantanen wasn’t exactly himself.
“I think this year has been such a whirlwind for him that it took him some time to get comfortable with us,” Dallas defenseman Brendan Smith said.
In his four previous NHL seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, Rantanen was fifth among all players in goals (163) and seventh in points per game (1.27). He was well on his way to hitting his marks again this season, with 25 goals and a 1.31 points-per-game average with the Avalanche.
But then, 49 games into his season, his world crumbled.
Rantanen was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 24 as part of a three-team trade. After 13 unremarkable games — and his stated intention not to sign an extension with Carolina before unrestricted free agency — Rantanen was traded a second time to the Dallas Stars before the March 7 NHL trade deadline, signing an eight-year extension with the team to finally stop the carousel from spinning.
He was under his career averages in 20 regular-season games with Dallas (five goals, 0.90 points per game). His postseason started quietly, with one assist through four games against his old teammates from Colorado in the first round.
The questions swirled around him from fans and media: Was this performance worth $96 million through 2032-33 with a full no-movement clause? Could Rantanen put up elite numbers without Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who fueled them in Colorado? Would he live up to his reputation as a playoff hero, having been fourth in postseason points (62 in 48 games) since 2020?
Who was Mikko Rantanen?
“When you think about his journey this year, he’s been through a lot,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “There’s been a lot written about him. There’s been a lot said about him. There’s been a lot of doubters out there, based on the situations he’s been in and how it’s looked at different points.”
His teammates watched Rantanen struggle to find his groove.
“It’s an interesting profession where you can be great, but then you get put in a different situation, and all of a sudden you’re trying to figure out comradery, where you fit, all these little things,” Smith said. “I’m not sure if it really fit with Carolina. And then with us, he was still trying to work and find out where he fit.”
And now?
“Now, he looks comfortable,” Smith said, with a laugh.
Since Game 5 against the Avalanche, Rantanen has 18 points in seven games — five of them Dallas victories, as they’ve pushed the Winnipeg Jets to the brink of elimination with a 3-1 lead in their second-round series, seeking a third straight trip to the Western Conference finals.
“I’m trying to stay in the moment. I’m happy to help the team and try to keep doing that as much as I can, both ends of the ice,” Rantanen said. “But even keel after wins and good games.”
Rantanen led all scorers in the postseason with 19 points in 11 games after Tuesday night. He’s the first player in NHL history with five three-point games through a team’s first 10 playoff games in a single postseason. He set another NHL record by either scoring or assisting on 13 consecutive goals by his team. At one point, Rantanen had factored into 15 of 16 goals for Dallas.
“He’s just getting started. He’s just warming up here,” DeBoer said after the Stars’ Game 3 win against Winnipeg. “I think he’s on a mission.”
THE 2015 NHL DRAFT class was absurdly loaded.
The Avalanche watched players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Noah Hanifin, Zach Werenski and Timo Meier come off the board before landing Rantanen, an 18-year-old winger playing against men in Finland’s SM-liiga.
Over the next 10 seasons, Rantanen would become the second-highest goal scorer from that draft class (294) behind McDavid (361), the three-time MVP and five-time scoring champion. His chemistry with MacKinnon helped both of them achieve offensive dominance. In his back-to-back 100-point seasons with the Avalanche in 2022-23 and 2023-24, around 75% of Rantanen’s total ice time was spent with MacKinnon.
“He helped grow this organization into a Stanley Cup winner and a contender every single season. He’s a big reason why,” MacKinnon said.
In Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup-winning run, Rantanen had 25 points in 20 games.
Rantanen signed a six-year extension in 2019 with a robust average annual value of $9.25 million. MacKinnon eclipsed that with his 2022 extension that carried a $12.6 million AAV. As Rantanen crept closer to unrestricted free agency in Summer 2025, there were two questions swirling around the Avalanche: How much would he ask for and what would it mean for their salary structure, both in what MacKinnon was making but also in what Makar will make when his contract is up in 2027?
Rantanen was optimistic something would work out this season to keep him with the Avalanche.
“It was a weird situation overall. Negotiations were going on with Colorado. Six weeks before the deadline, we were negotiating,” he recalled. “I felt at that time that I needed to go talk to the front office, face to face. I told them I’ll be flexible. That I want to play here for a long time.
“Then a couple days later, they traded me. So that was emotional.”
The Hurricanes sent forward Martin Necas, at the time their leading scorer, to Colorado in a package for Rantanen. When the Hurricanes reached out before the trade to explore a sign-and-trade with Rantanen, he told them his focus was on staying in Colorado.
“They still did the trade. That was their decision,” he said.
He described his first couple of days with Carolina as “shocking.” Rantanen claims he joined the Hurricanes with an open mind. But after a couple of weeks with the team, Rantanen didn’t feel like it was home. That included “where I fit in the playing style,” as he adapted to coach Rod Brind’amour and his team structure.
Rantanen has refuted speculation that he arrived in Raleigh with a trade list in hand. He also said reports that it was “a family decision” not to sign long-term to stay in Raleigh weren’t accurate. “It was a hockey decision at the end of the day and nothing else,” he said.
Rantanen provided Carolina GM Eric Tulsky with a short list of trade destinations, if they didn’t want him as a free-agent rental who left for nothing in the summer.
Dallas GM Jim Nill said the Hurricanes began making exploratory calls about two weeks before the trade deadline.
“We were one of the teams they called to see if there was interest, and then with about a week to 10 days before the trade deadline, we said, ‘You know what? Let’s look at it,’ but still not thinking that was the direction we were going to go,” he said.
Eventually, that was the direction they went in, sending promising young forward Logan Stankoven and four draft picks to the Hurricanes to land Rantanen.
As much as things had shifted dramatically for Rantanen, they suddenly shifted for the Stars as well.
“It definitely changes things when you have a guy like that, a star player. It changes the identity of your team,” DeBoer said.
“I think we’ve been built around four lines and waves of pressure and work. Probably more like a Carolina-type identity. I think when you add a player like that, you have to take on a little bit of a different identity,” the coach said. “You have to coach your team a little bit differently. You have to get him out there more. So I think that’s the challenge is to integrate him and build around that without losing what’s made us successful here.”
Rantanen’s postseason dominance is directly linked to him finally feeling at ease in Dallas.
Finally being with his people helped.
BEFORE GAME 4 against the Winnipeg Jets, the Stars’ social media feed published a photo of five players with the caption, “For the first time, our new Finnish Mafia is at full strength.”
For the first time, our new Finnish Mafia is at full strength. 🇫🇮 pic.twitter.com/dv1t5nfJfM
— X – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) May 14, 2025
Rantanen (born in Nousiainen) stood smiling between forward Roope Hintz (Tampere) and defenseman Miro Heiskanen (Espoo). On the other side of that trio were center Mikael Granlund (Oulu) and defenseman Esa Lindell (Vantaa).
That 3-1 win marked the first game in which all five Dallas Finns were playing in the same game. Heiskanen was lost to a knee injury before Granlund was acquired from the San Jose Sharks in February, and Rantanen arrived at the deadline. Along with goalie Jake Oettinger, the Finns were the difference: Granlund had a hat trick in the win, with assists going to Rantanen and a returning Heiskanen, who hoped the Finnish 5 could play as a unit at some point.
“We’ll see if they put us together there,” Heiskanen said. “That would be nice. Maybe next game.”
Rantanen played the majority of his time with Hintz after coming over from Carolina, but played only 6:55 with Granlund at 5-on-5 in the regular season. That changed in the playoffs, where 65% of Rantanen’s even-strength ice time has been spent with Granlund as his center.
“It’s great to be on the same side, for sure,” Granlund said. “We all can see what he’s doing out there right now. He’s such a great player, and he’s playing at a really high level.”
The line of Hintz, Rantanen and Granlund is plus-3 in goal differential, and has an on-ice shooting percentage of 15.4%.
Smith said the Stars players were waiting for DeBoer to unite the Finns.
“We we were talking about it for a couple weeks: Put the Finns together and let them deal with it,” Smith said. “Let them get angry at each other, let them be happy with each other, let them deal with the situation. And finally Pete did it. And, like I said, Mikko now looks comfortable.”
1:15
Mikael Granlund completes first career playoff hat trick
Mikael Granlund scores three goals for the Stars in Game 4 vs. the Jets.
That line is one factor behind Rantanen’s record-setting scoring pace in the playoffs. The Stars’ power play is another, where he has two goals and four assists for a unit clicking at a 32.4% conversion rate.
Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said defending Rantanen has gotten tougher with that line clicking.
“He maybe doesn’t get enough credit for how well he does make plays and that line is certainly dangerous,” he said. “He’s a big man and he had the puck a lot. Again, the biggest thing is time and space. I know that you hear that a lot in hockey, but at the end of the day, the more he holds onto [the puck], the more he’s comfortable, the harder it is to deny what he’s trying to do next.”
What Rantanen is trying to do next is complete the mission.
Continue his push for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, an award for which he’s currently the favorite. Shatter the conference finals ceiling the Stars bumped up against in the last two postseasons. Lift the Stanley Cup again, this time without MacKinnon lending a hand. Prove that the Stars’ investment in him is a sound one. Make Colorado regret trading him, if that hadn’t already been communicated when Rantanen went Beast Mode — or is that Moose Mode? — in eliminating the Avs in the first round.
“Somehow the deal should have probably gotten done in Colorado. It didn’t. So he’s like, ‘I’m trying to prove that I’m elite world class,'” Smith said.
“If you want to say he’s a mission, I can understand that. Look all the way around the room. Everybody’s got something that they want to prove to everybody and prove about themselves. Right now, [Mikko is] trying to prove that, ‘Hey, I’m worth it.'”
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