These playoffs belong to Stars' Mikko Rantanen

We are still a long way from determining a Stanley Cup champion and a 2025 Conn Smythe winner as playoff MVP. But it is starting to become pretty clear, as we sit mid-way through the second round, that the Dallas Stars are positioning themselves as one of the favorites to be champions and Mikko Rantanen is in the driver's seat for playoff MVP. 

Both continued to make that argument on Sunday in a 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets.

That win gave the Stars a 2-1 series lead and was largely driven by another dominant performance from Rantanen. 

He finished Sunday's game with one goal and two assists, bringing his postseason totals to nine goals, nine assists and 18 total points in the first 10 games.

What is even more remarkable about those numbers is that 17 of those points have come over just the past six games. 

Including his three points on Sunday, he has now factored into the scoring on 15 of the Stars' past 17 goals (either scoring or assisting on them) and 18 of their 29 total goals for the playoffs. 

He has been as dominant as any offensive player can be and is one of the biggest reasons the Stars are in the position they are. 

The Stars acquired him just before the NHL trade deadline from the Carolina Hurricanes, wrapping up a wild two-month stretch that saw him get traded two different times. After starting the season with the Colorado Avalanche, they traded him to Carolina out of the fear they would not be able to re-sign him after the season when his contract expired and did not want to risk losing him for nothing. 

Carolina took the swing in the hopes it could get him signed and give the organization the go-to offensive superstar it has been lacking.

But when it became clear that Rantanen was not going to reach a deal before the deadline, the Hurricanes traded him to Dallas, which was able to get him re-signed. 

It took an already strong Stars team, one that has played in back-to-back Western Conference Finals, and made it even better. 

The trade, as well as the contract, are already paying off in a big way for the Stars and have already burned Colorado. 

The Stars and Avalanche met in the opening round, with Rantanen playing a central role in eliminating Colorado due to his performance in Games 5-7 of the series where he recorded 11 points, including a stunning Game 7 hat trick in the third period to complete a Dallas comeback. 

Along with making the Stars a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, it has also been a huge postseason for Rantanen himself. One of the big questions that followed him immediately after the trade from Colorado was whether or not he would be able to carry a team — or even just his own line — without having Nathan MacKinnon centering him. A lot of Rantanen's production in Colorado came while playing next to MacKinnon, one of the NHL's best players. He is doing a pretty great job when it comes to silencing those doubts. 

Dallas is now just two wins away from a third consecutive trip to the Western Conference Finals, has yet to receive a single game from its top defenseman (Miro Heiskanen) and only just got back one of its top forwards (Jason Robertson) in the second round. The Stars are not even fully healthy yet and still winning against some of the league's best teams.