One of just four players to post an even strength Corsi For percentage over 50 percent (50.24) on the Avalanche's roster last season, Rantanen predictably posted his best season of his short NHL career with 84 points -- 29 goals and 55 assists -- over 81 games. Still only 21, there's plenty of room for development and improvement on his numbers, finishing with an even rating on the campaign despite his offensive outburst. With the Avalanche returning a young, talented top line that also includes Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, it's reasonable to anticipate that Rantanen will remain on par or outpace his production from a season ago. The addition of Philipp Grubauer between the pipes should only help his rating, as well.

Rantanen was one of the few positives to come out of Colorado’s disastrous 2016-17 season, emerging as a likely top-six forward for years to come with a team-leading 20 goals and 18 assists in 75 games. The 10th pick in the 2015 draft finished with a minus-25 rating, but there were actually six other Avalanche players that did just as poorly or worse. While his team’s expected shortcomings will do Rantanen no favors in that category again this year, the 20-year-old’s scoring upside makes him worth a gamble on draft day.

Selected by the Avalanche with the 10th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Rantanen is a crafty playmaker with nifty hands who sees the ice very well. The 18-year-old is currently listed at 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds, and after Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and Noah Hanifin, he may have the best chance of any of this year's draft picks to open the season in the NHL. It's still more likely that Rantanen spends another year abroad before joining the Avalanche in the second half of 2015-16 or even the following season, as he still doesn’t use his size to his advantage as much as he should. But there's no denying the winger's offensive abilities, which he showcased time and time again during the World Junior Championships, scoring four times in five games for the Finnish squad. He now joins an organization ripe with young offensive talent, and in time, he may establish himself as one of the best of the lot.