It's time for this young writer to be honest with you all. When the Blue Jackets stepped up to the podium at the 2023 NHL Draft with Adam Fantilli still available on the board, I think my heart rate was around 180 bpm. Adam is the kind of player we have waited to see in Columbus since the team's inception.
Yet after yet another loss at the draft lottery for the Union Blue, I'd resigned myself to seeing the Jackets draft someone like Will Smith or David Reinbacher. Both of those young men are great talents in their own right, but I don't believe they have quite the same franchise-altering potential as their respective teammates, Macklin Celebrini and Ivan Demidov. But then, Jarmo Kekalainen said those magic words:
I broke down sobbing. I did. Even two years on, following the third overall pick by Columbus in that draft, I'm still in disbelief that this kid is a Columbus Blue Jacket. No offense to anyone like Rick Nash, Cam Atkinson, or the like of Gilbert Brule; but, it isn't easy to see anyone not named Zach Werenski having a higher ceiling as a prospect for this long-suffering franchise.
"Mo" checks all of the boxes in his potential to be a franchise-altering star centerman that is a cornerstone on a Stanley Cup Contender not far down the road. He's already flexed his scoring ability in becoming the first player in his draft class to hit the 30 goals plateau.
He's beginning to show a two-way intelligent defensive ability with his skating speed and more than decent frame proving to be excellent assets in rounding out his game. He's a coach's dream to put on the ice in almost any situation. He's also already proven his ability to play healthy, as he somehow played in every game this campaign despite missing the second half of his rookie season to a freak lower-body injury.
I've seen contemporary (post-draft) potential ceilings comparisons to guys like Jonathon Toews, Patrice Bergeron, and Aleksander Barkov. All of those three were core, top-3 players on title teams, or in the case of Toews and Barkov, multiple title teams. Is it too tall an order to see Fantilli as a Selke Trophy contender down the road? I don't think so. His skating ability is otherworldly, and if he continues to round out how he uses his frame intelligently on the forecheck and backcheck... look out.
One Bold Prediction: Adam Fantilli scores at a point a game pace this season, and hits the 40 goal plateau.
I mean, why not? This kid has shown the ability to be a top-line center in all situations and can carry it when required. His time on the ice with Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov, and Kent Johnson this past campaign proved that he can score with the best of them. He may not be a 100-point guy in his career, but I don't think that kind of milestone matters if you're having a net positive impact in all phases of the game: 5 v 5, power play, and penalty kill.
It's impossible to not be excited at seeing what comes next for Mo. The sky looks to be the limit and I have no doubts that he'll go down one of the three best Columbus Blue Jackets to ever lace them up.