Who is the best Finnish player in the NHL?

Mikko Rantanen is part of an incredible group of Finns in the primes of their NHL careers.

Joel Kiviranta might be the best person to answer what is admittedly a tough question, but it stumped him as well.

Who is the best Finnish player in the NHL right now? Finland is a proud hockey nation, with a rich tradition of punching far above its weight class when considering barometers like population and country size.

Even for Suomi, the current crop of Finnish stars in the NHL is an incredible group. Kiviranta has played with a few of the best Finns during his NHL stops with the Dallas Stars and now the Colorado Avalanche.

There are others in the conversation, but let’s start with Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen and Avs forward Mikko Rantanen.

“Playing with (Heiskanen), I was pretty sure that he’s the best Finnish player in the league,” Kiviranta said. “With the puck and without the puck, and how he’s moving and how he sees the game. But, now I have played with Mikko too … and I’m not sure about that. It’s a hard to just pick one.”

Rantanen stated his case loudly last season. He finished with career highs in goals (55) and points (105). He is the only Finnish player to reach either of those marks that isn’t named Teemu Selanne or Jari Kurri, almost without question the two best players in Suomi history.

Even with a recent nine-game goalless streak, Rantanen leads all Finns this season in goals and points. He’s the perfect model of a modern-day power forward. He’s huge, but also swift on his skates and among the most skilled players in the world.

“I remember the junior national teams, and we all knew Mikko had excellent hockey IQ, but now when you see him even closer it’s little things he’s doing. It’s hard to explain,” Kiviranta said. “It’s not a coincidence that he gets assists in almost every game and scored 50plus goals. I don’t know how, but he sees the game a little different.”