These Right Wings make up "Mount Rushmore" for the Colorado Avalanche

3.) Mikko Rantanen

Remember how it was stated that there’s a right wing that could surpass Hejduk as the all-time best to wear burgundy and blue? Well, here he is, Mikko Rantanen. Aptly nicknamed, “the moose” was drafted tenth overall in 2015 by Colorado and made his NHL impact a year later.

The hulking 6’4”, 215-pound Rantanen scored 20 goals his rookie season and hasn’t looked back, scoring more than 25 every season but once since. The only season he didn’t hit 20 goals was during the lockout shortened season in 2019-20 when he scored 19 in 42 games.

In 2021-22 Rantanen was a major part of the team that lifted the Stanley Cup. During that season he played 75 games and totaled 92 points on 36 goals and 56 assists, with 16 of those goals coming on the power play. During the playoffs he was even better, with 25 points in 20 games. He averaged an assist per game and added five goals to go with that. Without Rantanen’s play, the Avalanche likely don’t win the Cup.

The past two seasons have statistically been Rantanen’s best. In 2022-23 he poured in 55 goals and added 50 helpers for 105 points. He had 24 power play goals that season. In 2023-24 Rantanen took a slight step back putting the puck in the net, with 42 goals scored, but added more apples, with 62, for 104 points on the season. Over two seasons he’s accrued nearly 33 percent of his entire NHL point total and at only 27 years old, his best years are still ahead of him.

That’s a scary thought for the rest of the NHL, and his already accumulated body of work as well as his future possibilities place him firmly on Mount Rushmore.