Colorado Avalanche: Is Mikko Rantanen the New Jaromir Jagr?

Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen’s play is reminiscent of a great player who unfortunately never skated for the Avs, Jaromir Jagr.

Colorado Avalanche fans like to compare winger Mikko Rantanen to Peter Forsberg, even going so far as to call him the Finnish Forsberg. That makes sense since Forsberg is an Avs hero and, you know “Finnish Forsberg” sounds cool.

However, if we’re being honest, Rantanen doesn’t really play in Forsberg’s style. Our Peter the Great played with an elite skill characterized by his “notably physical style of play,” as NHL.com puts it. You would see him wearing an opponent like a cape while he stickhandled toward the net. Or you’d see him just bulldoze through an opponent en route to scoring with a sniper wristshot.

I don’t see Rantanen in quite that light, especially the physical play. Or being able to stay upright with an opponent on his back — he can barely do so on his own skates. (Although he worked on balance over the summer, and it shows.)

No, I see Rantanen more in the vein of a Jaromir Jagr and, hey, that’s not exactly an insult. Especially coming from me since Jagr was the catalyst that made me fall in love with hockey.

Note: I’m going to focus on Jagr in his prime (especially with the Penguins) as I make the following comparisons.

It shouldn’t be too big a surprise the two look similar on the ice. They’re both European-trained, left-shooting right wings. They’re roughly the same size — 6-foot-3, 200 pounds on Jagr and 6-foot-4, 211 pounds on Rantanen.

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It’s too early in Rantanen’s career to go in-depth in a comparison. However, both are known for being visionary playmakers, though Jagr knew how to finish, too. (Not that Mikko can’t — he’s just more of a playmaker at this stage.) Both are big men who skate surprisingly fast and are strong on their skates — though, again, Jagr had the slight edge there.

And both could puck handle. The puck seemed to be magnetized to Jagr’s stick, and you’re starting to see the same with Rantanen.

Rantanen is in the third year of his career. Thus far, he earned the following:

• 38 points (20 goals, 18 assists) his rookie year
• 84 points (29 goals, 55 assists) last year
• 47 points (12 goals, 35 assists) at the 29-game mark this season

That puts him at a ridiculous 132-point pace. He probably won’t record that many points, but cracking 100 isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

Jagr the first three years of his career:

• 57 points (27 goals, 30 assists)
• 69 (nice) points (32 goals, 37 assists)
• 94 points (34 goals, 60 assists)

Not quite the same pace as Rantanen, but it’s important to note that Jagr was on Cup-winning teams his first two seasons. You also see more goals scored, but not many.

The idea that Rantanen is more a player in Jagr’s mold than Forsberg’s is starting to be floated around this season, and not just by me. I think it’s the style of play — both players just have so many tools in their toolbox. They see the game well, and they have the talent — and skating — to back up their vision.

Check out Rantanen’s best Jagr impression:

Now this play didn’t result in a goal. But check out how eerily familiar it is to this Stanley Cup Finals goal from Jaromir Jagr:

Unfortunately, the one area of weakness for Rantanen compared to Jagr is his balance. He specifically worked on that skill over the summer, and he has improved. However, if he hadn’t fallen over at the end, the play might be exactly the same as Jagr’s.

We can all hope that Mikko Rantanen has a 20+ year career like Jaromir Jagr. And, unlike Jagr, we can hope he spends the majority of it with his draft team, the Colorado Avalanche. Nonetheless, whether you think he’s reminiscent of the Hall of Fame-bound Jagr or not, he’s the real deal.