Fantilli, Del Bel Belluz stepping up in Monahan's absence

He might not be the most indispensible player on the Blue Jackets roster because Zach Werenski exists, but Sean Monahan is on the list of players the team could most ill-afford to lose.

The veteran center has been a versatile Swiss Army knife of effectiveness for the Blue Jackets, centering a dominant top line, anchoring a resurgent power play, and providing a much-appreciated dose of veteran leadership in his first season in Columbus.

So when Monahan took a hit into the boards from Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang on Tuesday and landed on injured reserve with an upper body injury, you knew it wouldn’t be easy to replace him. But the NHL stops for no man, and the Blue Jackets are likely to have to continue on without the alternate captain for the foreseeable future.

The good news? Head coach Dean Evason said the team’s depth – including centers Adam Fantilli and Luca Del Bel Belluz – should help the Blue Jackets mitigate that loss.

“(The depth) will be tested,” Evason said. “Organizations take pride in depth at all positions clearly, but I think there’s a lot more talk in our game that you need depth up the middle. It’s hard to find centermen that are NHL players. We think we’ve got a few.”

Those two youngsters – Fantilli is just 20, while Del Bel Belluz is 21 – have certainly stepped up to the table as the Blue Jackets have won their first two games without Monahan. Fantilli extended his career-best point streak to five games in the victories over Seattle and St. Louis, while Del Bel Belluz has become just the second player in CBJ history after Werenski to begin his NHL career with points his first three career games.

Perhaps most importantly, the Blue Jackets have turned in strong defensive efforts and turned third-period leads into victories in both of those games, which might be an area you’d expect the team to struggle without a calming veteran like Monahan. Seattle was held to just two goals in the Jackets’ 6-2 win at home Thursday, while the Blues didn’t score until the final minute as Columbus took a 2-1 road triumph Saturday.

Fantilli had the opening goal in that contest, and he’s more than held his own since moving up to Monahan’s place on the top line with Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov as well as the veteran’s bumper spot on the No. 1 power play.

Since finding himself in Monahan’s real estate, Fantilli has knotted the game at Pittsburgh on the power play Tuesday, set up Werenski for a crucial goal Thursday and completed a perfect passing play with Voronkov and Marchenko to get the Jackets on the board against the Blues.

And while Monahan hasn’t been on the ice with Fantilli the past two-plus games, his impact is still felt. The No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft said he’s learned a ton just by watching Monahan this season and is starting to put those lessons into play.

“His details are so good,” Fantilli said. “I don’t know what his stats are (on faceoffs), but someone said he’s top five in the league since he came into the league. His D-zone details are unreal, where he is in the O-zone. He doesn’t even have to skate much. He just finds himself in the right spots. Watching him, I think that’s something I can add to my game, just slowing down sometimes and making sure that I’m in the right spots. I’m learning a lot from him. It’s been great.”

Evason has consistently said Fantilli has been playing some excellent hockey even though his offensive production hadn’t taken a leap forward until recently, and he confirmed he can see pieces of Monahan’s game being added to the youngsters play as the season has gone on.

“For sure,” Evason said. “His stopping, his stick, his positioning, faceoffs, how he competes, how he stops on pucks, how he is underneath pucks and doesn’t cheat the game, yeah, he’s getting closer and closer to doing that on a consistent basis.”

While Fantilli is in his second season at the NHL level, Del Bel Belluz was recalled from AHL Cleveland after Monahan’s injury to play in just his second NHL game. The second-round pick in the 2022 draft certainly deserved the opportunity, though, as his 17-20-37 line allowed him to lead the AHL in scoring in his sophomore pro season.

The Blue Jackets chose Del Bel Belluz because of an excellent all-around game including the ability to put the puck in the net, and the Ontario native said his increased production this year has come from a renewed dedication to getting to the hard areas on the ice.

“I think one thing I’ve been focusing on offensively is just trying to get to the inside a lot more,” Del Bel Belluz said. “I feel like last year I was a little more of a perimeter guy, you know, carrying it on the outside, but this year I’ve been able to get to the netfront a lot more. I’ve scored some ugly ones for sure, ones that have just hit my body and gone in.

“So I’m just trying to focus on getting into the dirty areas a little more. You might get a couple cross-checks in the back that might hurt after the game, but it’s all worth it for a goal at the end of the night.”

He proved that when he tipped in a pass from the top of the crease against Seattle to give him two goals in two NHL games – he tallied in his debut last year in the season finale – and become the first player in CBJ history to score in each of his first pair of contests.

But what excites Evason the most is Del Bel Belluz’s all-around game, which Cleveland head coach Trent Vogelhuber emphasized before the prospect’s recall.

“The reports that we got on Bel are extremely positive with his development,” Evason said. “Clearly you can just look at the stat sheet and see that he’s doing the right things or he’s doing good things offensively, but by all accounts he’s doing all the right things to develop both his defensive game and his offensive game. Trent speaks very highly of him, and again, we’ve talked about that earned culture. He’s earned the right to be here.”