Mikko Rantanen fined after controversial hit on Kirill Kaprizov sparks reaction
Mikko Rantanen got hit with the maximum fine the CBA allows, $5,000 from the Department of Player Safety for cross-checking Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild.
The notice landed Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours after Dallas was eliminated.
It's a fine, not a suspension. But the timing tells the real story.
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Glen Gulutzan's Stars went home Thursday night after a 5-2 loss in Game 6 in Saint Paul. Series over. Wild advance.
Rantanen finished the six-game series with 1 goal, 6 assists, 7 points, and a -8 rating. The points were there. The plus-minus was a problem.
In the elimination game, the Finnish winger logged 21:46 of ice time with one assist and went minus-3. He didn't register a single shot on goal.
Was the cross-check on Kaprizov a moment of frustration in a series that was slipping away? You can read it however you want. The league read it as supplementary discipline.
A $12 million playoff that ended with a slap on the wrist
This was Rantanen's second postseason wearing Stars colors after the trade that moved him out of Carolina mid-season. The cap hit is $12 million.
Six playoff games, one goal. That's the line that follows him into the summer.
Dallas finished the regular season 50-20-12 with 112 points and the third-best record in the league. They were built to do damage in May.
Instead, they're cleaning out lockers on the first of May while John Hynes and the Wild keep going.
Minnesota took the series 4-2 after dropping Game 1. Kaprizov posted 9 points in 6 games against Dallas and finished a +11 in the series. He was the best player on the ice most nights.
The Stars beat the Wild three times in four regular-season meetings. None of that mattered once the puck dropped in April.
Now Jim Nill has decisions to make on a roster that came up short, with a top-six winger who just got fined for the way the series ended.
The summer in Dallas starts uncomfortably.
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| POLL | ||
MAI 1 | 469 ANSWERS Mikko Rantanen fined after controversial hit on Kirill Kaprizov sparks reaction Should the NHL have suspended Mikko Rantanen instead of just fining him for the cross-check on Kirill Kaprizov? | ||
| Yes | 398 | 84.9 % |
| No | 71 | 15.1 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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16 MAI 2026
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| B | P | PTS | ||
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zach Metsa | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Arber Xhekaj | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
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