Mikko Rantanen sees late Olympic lower body injury

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Mikko Rantanen did not play for Team Finland en route to the Finns earning the bronze medal at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Finland now has five medals in Olympics utilizing NHL players (1998-2014, 2026). The Finns previously won bronze medals in 1998, 2010 and 2014 and a silver medal in 2006, being shut out only in 2002. More specifically, this marks Finland’s eighth Olympic men’s hockey medal and fifth bronze. However while Rantanen earned and wore his Olympic bronze medal, he was not present on the ice against Slovakia due to a lower-body injury.

The forward had six points (two goals, four assists) in five tournament games. Rantanen sustained the lower-body injury during the Olympic semifinal against Canada. The 29-year-old alternate captain was hurt in the third period of Finland's 3-2 loss prior to earning the bronze at Milano Santagiulia Arena. 

The Finns won 6-1 over Slovakia without Rantanen — a native of Nousiainen, Finland. 

Where does Mikko Rantanen go from here?

Rantanen will be re-evaluated when he returns to Dallas regarding the severity and timeline of the injury, per NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.

Friedman reported the injury is apparently not believed to be season-ending, though exact severity remains to be determined. The Stars will conduct further evaluation once Rantanen rejoins the team following the conclusion of the Olympic tournament.

“You don’t want to see anybody go down, especially a guy like that,” said defenseman Miro Heiskanen per NHL.com, who plays with Rantanen on the Dallas Stars. “He’s a huge part of this team and a huge part of the Dallas Stars. It’s not fun to see that, but at the same time we have to focus on the game and we have a lot of great players here and we just stayed together and tried to do our best.”

Rantanen was traded to the Stars by Carolina in March of 2025. 

He sits with 774 career points (314 goals, 460 assists) across 706 games played. For the Stars so far this year, Rantanen has recorded 69 points across 20 goals and 49 assists.

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