Avs' Rantanen becomes 4th Finnish player ever to post 80-point season

Has any player had a quieter 80 points this season than Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen?

The 21-year-old picked up his 27th goal on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings, becoming the fourth Finnish player in NHL history to record 80 points in a season, according to Hockey Reference.

Rantanen joins the elite company of Jari Kurri, Teemu Selanne, and Olli Jokinen. Tomas Sandstrom is also listed among the players on Hockey Reference since he was born in Finland, but given that he grew up in and represented Sweden internationally, he does not count.

It's been quite a season for Finnish hockey, as last week, Golden Knights forward Erik Haula became the seventh Finn to record 50 points this season, which surpassed the country's previous best of six.

Nathan MacKinnon gets all the attention in Colorado - and deservedly so - but it's time to start recognizing Rantanen as one of the game's bright young stars.

- With h/t to Sami Hoffren

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