Adam Fantilli is becoming the star that he was drafted to be

Although the Blue Jackets are focused on this season right now, and trying to make it back into the playoffs for the first time since 2020, there is still plenty of potential to look forward to in the next few years. A key piece of that potential is Adam Fantilli, and he's already showing it this season.

How Adam Fantilli became a Blue Jacket

Adam Fantilli's NHL story begins in 2019. He took a bit of an unorthodox route for Canadian hockey players by moving to the United States, where he played high school hockey to prepare for the United States Hockey League (USHL), deciding he liked that path better than playing in Canadian juniors.

Fantilli played two full seasons with the Chicago Steel, scoring 55 goals and 110 points in just 103 games, and won the Clark Cup Championship and was named the finals MVP in his first season.

Fantilli then made the jump to college hockey, where he solidified himself as one of the top prospects in all of hockey. He scored a whopping 30 goals and 65 points with the University of Michigan, and was awarded the Hobey Baker Trophy for being the best player in college hockey.

This dominant college performance cemented Fantilli as a standout in his draft class and led to a near-consensus #2 ranking among most scouts.

The 2023 NHL Draft was quite an interesting one, and Blue Jackets fans had no idea who the team would come out of the draft with, since several players were in the mix for the first few picks after Connor Bedard and Fantilli were seen as the clear top two.

However, the Anaheim Ducks made what was a shocking decision at the time by drafting Leo Carlsson over Adam Fantilli, and the Blue Jackets opted to scoop up the former Wolverine with their third overall pick.

Fantilli adjusted to professional hockey very quickly

Fantilli's rookie season started well, as he scored six points in his first ten games, including scoring his first NHL goal in his fifth game, against the Minnesota Wild.

Although Fantilli's performance was looking great until he unfortunately suffered a major injury on January 28, 2024, when he sustained a lacerated calf in his 49th game against the Seattle Kraken.

However, after a full offseason of training and recovery, Fantilli came back to Columbus even better than he was before, tallying 31 goals and 54 points in a full 82 games.

A big part of his great production came from his success on the first line when he had to fill in for Sean Monahan after he injured his wrist. 15 of Fantilli's goals and 29 of his points came from the 34 games he played in January, February, and March, the months when he was on the top line.

It's not just last season that has shone a light on his future, though. A stellar start to the 2025-26 season has shown the 5th Line that Fantilli can become a real star in the NHL. Let's take a closer look at his performance so far.