When the Dallas Stars take to the ice in Edmonton for Tuesday’s game against the Oilers, they’ll do so without star forward Mikko Rantanen.

The high-flying winger, twice traded last year before landing in the Big D last March, was handed an automatic one-game suspension by the league after being ejected from his second game in a week. The first ejection came last Tuesday in Dallas’ 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders, when with less than a minute to go, Rantanen laid a hit from behind on defenceman Alexander Romanov, sending him crashing into the boards.

A scrum ensued, and Islanders head coach Patrick Roy was none-too-pleased, saying after the game, “When you see the number, you have to lay off, everybody knows that.”

While Rantanen didn’t face supplemental discipline for the hit, he isn’t getting off scot-free after laying a similar hit on Calgary Flames winger Matt Coronato in Saturday’s game. Coronato went to play a puck along the boards, when Rantanen roared in and laid another hit right on the numbers, sending the Flame face-first into the boards.

Flames winger Jonathan Huberdeau came to Coronato’s defence, dropping the gloves as a scrum ensued as Rantanen’s night ended with a five-minute major and a game misconduct as Calgary went on to win 3-2.

In a statement Sunday, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety handed out the automatic suspension, which falls under rule 23.6, stating:

Rantanen has been off to a tremendous start to the 2025-26 season, scoring 10 goals and 28 points in 22 games, and after racking up 37 penalty minutes in those games against the Islanders and Flames, he’s now totalled a league-leading 57 PIM.

In 23 regular season games against the Oilers, Rantanen has scored 11 goals and 24 points, adding four goals and nine points in nine playoff games.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.