There is no doubt that Adam Fantilli is a star in the making and the future ceiling of this club will be decided by him. Fantilli has incredible speed and puck skills, and a quality shot that he frequently displayed on his way to notching 30 goals at 20 years old.
Adamo came into the organization with acclaim for his work ethic and leadership and we have heard nothing other than more of that in his time here. Stepping into a 1C role on a team fighting for a playoff spot in his second season is no small task and he filled in admirably. JVR was recently on Spittin’ Chiclets and he talked about how Fantilli was learning from Olivier how to use size and that he spends a lot of time watching Nathan MacKinnon and modeling his game after him. And he should, Fantilli is on the path to becoming a similar player, let’s see if he can round out his game like Nate did.
2024-25 Stats
Games Played: 82
Goals: 31
Assists: 23
Points: 54
Plus/Minus: +4
PIM: 18
5v5 Corsi %: 47.2%
5v5 Fenwick %: 46.4%
5v5 O-Zone Start %: 59.5%
Contract
Fantilli will be entering the final year of his three year entry level contract next season that has paid him an average salary of $950K. He will be an RFA at the end of next season.
High Point
Assuming the 1C spot after the Monahan injury in January, Fantilli returned to his home province of Ontario and scored a Hat Trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-1 rout for the Jackets.
Low Point
I struggled to recall a single low point for Fantilli that didn’t also align with general team struggles. His play early in the season was not stellar but that was not unexpected coming into his second year with a new coach and linemates. I’ll choose the second shutout in a row in early April against Ottawa. Fantilli was on the ice for 3 goals against in this one, an 0-4 loss to Ottawa that marked the low point of our postseason hopes.
Report Card
B+
When reviewing a player with expectations like Fantilli, I think it’s reasonable to shift the goal posts a bit higher. For most 20 year olds a 30 goal campaign is a slam dunk A, but Fantilli has his sights on becoming a franchise caliber player. His .66 points per game outscored his draft classmate Leo Carlsson’s .59, but fell short of Connor Bedard’s .82. However, Connor Bedard also scored nearly half his points on the power play this year and had nearly double the man advantage time that Fantilli did. It’s a good indicator of future success that Fantilli did most of his damage at 5v5.
If you look at the various public models available many of them have graded Adam Fantilli lowly as a play driver. HockeyViz thinks he’s one of the worst defensive players in the league and Dom’s player cards place him in the bottom third of driving offense and defense at 5v5. These models are not always good at capturing players who are great finishers vs those who are lucky but they do rightly acknowledge that Fantilli was put in good situations (highest % of starts in the o zone on the team, quality linemates) and the possession numbers don’t reflect that. I glanced at the NHL edge data and this chart is illustrative:
Adam Fantilli is a high-motor player, who skates fast, creates a lot of shots, scores a lot, and spends almost no time in the offensive zone. Is this something to be concerned about? For a veteran player it would be, but not for our young center. This aligns with what I saw when watching games this year. Fantilli loved to carry the puck in and then to make a move to create a shot. Oftentimes he scored, but more frequently his speed put him ahead of his teammates and the missed/saved shot was turned into possession going the other way. This is reminiscent of the early MacKinnon years before he learned to use his speed to create space and then to slow it down and allow plays to develop. Fantilli is not a bad defensive player, but part of being a good defensive player is making sure the puck stays on the other end of the ice.
Fantilli’s speed and skills are special and it’s what carried him through a great sophomore year. I can’t wait to see how his game continues to grow under Dean Evason and the tutelage of a player like Monahan.