Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) fights for the puck against Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) during the first period of an NHL hockey game at American Airlines Center on Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Dallas.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
FRISCO — Jim Nill said he never felt Mikko Rantanen was the same after the Olympics, and on Thursday, the Stars’ general manager revealed why.
Nill said in his end-of-season media availability that Rantanen tore his MCL during the Olympics while playing for Team Finland. Rantanen was out for over a month and didn’t return to game action until March 28.
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Nill said in watching Rantanen after his return, he could tell the injury was still impacting him.
“He loves to get players on his back, roll around the corners and come back, but he couldn’t do that,” Nill said. “He was falling down.”
The GM also said the Stars would have liked for Rantanen to have another week or two longer to recover. He will not need surgery this offseason.
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After scoring 20 goals before his injury, Rantanen scored just two in his final 10 regular-season games and had just one goal and seven points in six playoff games. He recorded just one point at even strength in the postseason.
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Rantanen said Monday that he did not consider himself injured in the playoffs, but both his general manager and head coach Glen Gulutzan said they felt the injury derailed the second half of his season.
Rantanen’s injury was one on a very long list of injuries the Stars had to deal with throughout the season. Nill addressed every injury that players suffered in a season where the Stars were not at full strength for any of their 82 regular-season games or six playoff games.
“I’ve never seen that before,” Nill said. “I give the coaches, and I give the players a lot of credit.”
Nill said Radek Faksa’s injury might be the most severe. Faksa suffered a concussion during the Olympics, but during his recovery, he had a freak accident where he was stepped on by a skate, causing a serious laceration in his foot that also cut a ligament.
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Nill said Faksa may need further surgery this offseason, and the injury remains serious, even though Faksa returned for the final two games of the regular season and the playoffs.
“Before the Olympics, my biggest fear was somebody’s going to get hurt, and we lost three guys,” said Nill, grouping in Roope Hintz, who returned sick and then tore his hamstring in multiple places in his first game back.
Here are all the other injuries Nill disclosed:
Oskar Bäck: injured wrist in October, sprained shoulder in playoffs
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Nathan Bastian: broke finger in March
Jamie Benn: punctured lung in training camp, concussion in December
Lian Bichsel: fractured leg and ankle in November, sprained shoulder last game of playoffs
Michael Bunting: groin injury in March
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Adam Erne: MCL sprain in December
Radek Faksa: concussion at Olympics, foot laceration during recovery
Thomas Harley: broke foot in November
Miro Heiskanen: torn oblique in April, sprained ankle in playoffs
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Roope Hintz: sick at Olympics, double hamstring tear in March
Arttu Hyry: high ankle sprain in playoffs
Nils Lundkvist: fractured leg and ankle in October, facial laceration and concussion in playoffs
Ilya Lyubushkin: missed time in regular season with shoulder injury
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Tyler Myers: groin injury in March
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Mikko Rantanen: torn MCL at Olympics
Tyler Seguin: torn ACL in December
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Sam Steel: groin injury in March