its a lot closer than most people realize, comparing first 3 years
Player Comparison Finder | Hockey-Reference.com
They're the same age. They're from the same draft. You can't just eliminate Rantanen's entire 2018/19 season yet include Connor's 2018/19 season because it doesn't suit your narrative. Rantanen's rookie season was also on the worst team in modern NHL history where only a single player exceeded 50 points. His 20 goals lead the team in scoring. Point being...his numbers were deflated by being on such a historically appalling roster, but relative to teammates he was amongst the best on the club.
Let's use more honest and pertinent stats when comparing where these two are comparatively at in the present: Last season Rants put up 87 points in 74 games, pacing for 96 over 82. Connor put up 66 in 82. In 17/18 Rantanen put up 84 points, Connor put up 57. No, they're not
that close, and that's not a knock on Connor, who's an awesome player in his own right.