Light Work: On rooting for Logan Stankoven, and why it has nothing to do with Mikko Rantanen

For now.

I hadn’t occurred to me. That the minute Logan Stankoven scored — which he did on Sunday, twice no less (with the game-winner) to beat New Jersey — that we might have fans rushing to revisit the decision to trade him for Mikko Rantanen.

I’m not here to put these fans on blast. Is it silly to react this way after just one game? Absolutely. Are their situations at all comparable? No. Does the context between each other’s respective series overlap? Not even close. Put Mikko Rantanen up against a banged up, and bleeding out New Jersey Devils team, and he probably notches a hat trick. Whatever game of ‘What If’ you want to play, chances are your biases and assumptions will take you wherever you want to go.

I do believe that there will come a time when this trade will be judged. And there will come a time when it’s fair to judge the trade. This is simply the nature of any hockey trade. If Rantanen becomes an 80-point player in his advanced age while Stankoven matches that, the trade will look bad. If Rantanen stays a 100-point winger while Stankoven tops out as a 50-point player, the trade will look good. All trades deserve scrutiny. Filip Forsberg for Martin Erat. Josh Norris for Dylan Cozens. Jack Eichel for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, and a bag of assets. P.K. Subban for Shea Weber. Matthew Tkachuk for Jonathan Huberdeau and McKenzie Weegar. Pierre-Luc Dubiois for Gabriel Vilardi and Alex Iafallo. Etc. Everything is fair game on a long enough timeline.

However, now is not the time because we don’t have a timeline. And it’s not just about the obvious — that it’s literally one game. It’s also about expectation, and probability.

This is part of what has bothered me about the Rantanen Is Great In The Playoffs (!) narrative. We get it. He’s a proven playoff performer. His points per game in the playoffs among regulars (at least 1000 minutes) is top three in the analytics era, behind only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

But here’s the thing: he’s been a playoff performer for a totally different team; a team that happens to have two other players in the top 25 in playoff points per game in Nathan MacKinnon (5th) and Cale Makar (25th). The only player who makes the top 25 for the Stars is Roope Hintz (23rd). How fair is this to Rantanen, to expect him to produce at the same rate he’s done throughout his career for a totally different team amidst a whirlwind of events? I hear you quoting Don Draper. “That’s what the money’s for!”

No. The money’s for the assessment by the GM and his pro scouts on whether Rantanen was the player to spend money and assets on. That’s what the money’s for. As far as whether Rantanen can be a big time playoff performer, that will be on him, the team surrounding him, and whether Dallas’ coaching staff can maximize his surroundings so that he can maximize the team’s success.

Right now, there’s a lot to actually analyze. Are Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn the best linemates for Rantanen? Is this the line to be matching up against Cale Makar and Devon Toews, who they saw most of on Saturday night? Will it just be a matter of time before Rantanen breaks through or might his development take longer given Dallas’ injury situation? For that matter will one playoff series even bring us closer to making an assessment, whether he breaks through or not?

I get that it’s hard for fans to be patient. It’s the playoffs. Fans only care about what you can deliver. You see Stankoven’s goals and think “man, we sure could have used two goals on Saturday!” I get that Rantanen has to deliver, because that’s what you give up your farm and 12 million a year for. But one series leaves Rantanen a small window to be the player some fans think he is. Not only is it a small window, but it’s a small window with a lot of obstacles; not just competing against Colorado, but against finding a rhythm with his new team. Being happy for Stankoven doesn’t need to come at the cost of being angry about Rantanen. Their paths diverged a long time ago, and right now, they couldn’t be more different.

There will be time to revisit the trade. Now’s not it. However, it is the time, if you want, to be happy for Stankoven.