Battling through an injury that abruptly ended his rookie season, Adam Fantilli was determined to turn some heads his sophomore year in the NHL.
He did just that.
Fantilli became the first and only player from his celebrated the 2023 draft class to record 30 goals in a season, and much of it goes back to the training he put in last summer.
After missing the Blue Jackets' last 33 games with a calf laceration from a skate cut suffered vs. Seattle on Jan. 28, 2024, Fantilli knew he wanted to make sure he was healthy and improved for the team’s 2024-25 campaign.
After a call from Nathan MacKinnon to join him and Sidney Crosby in Nova Scotia for a week last summer, he had no choice but to say yes.
“When I was younger, it was always Sidney Crosby (who I looked up to), and I wanted to just watch him as much as possible,” Fantilli said. “As I started to get older, I've watched MacKinnon for so long, and I've wanted to play just like him and try to be just like him.
“I went up and skated with them in Halifax this summer for a week and got to see (MacKinnon) and Sid, and they work so hard in the offseason. It was really great to see.”
Those summer workouts proved vital in pushing Fantilli. He got to see up close the level he has to reach to be one of the best centers in the NHL, and he is dedicated to getting there.
“I have a long way to go to catch up to (MacKinnon), but I think he is stronger and faster, and that's the level I want to get to,” Fantilli said. “He does so many things so well, so I'm gonna just keep working on trying to get there.”
It's now a fitting twist of fate that Fantilli will get to line up next to those two players, as both Crosby and MacKinnon have joined Fantilli on Team Canada for the upcoming IIHF World Championships.
Mentors have been key to the 20-year-old’s development. As he trains with those he looks up to in the summer, he has also received a lot of help from the leaders within his own locker room. This season, veterans Sean Monahan and Boone Jenner took him under their wing and helped him grow.
When Monahan suffered a wrist injury Jan. 7, Fantilli was put in between Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko on the Jackets' first line, an opportunity he looked to take full advantage of.
“(Monahan and Jenner), they have helped me a ton,” Fantilli said. “I have said it like 100 times how much those guys have helped me, and how much it's been useful to play behind those guys."
In the two-month span that Fantilli was on the top line, he reached a new level of productivity. In those 28 games, he recorded two hat tricks, including one against his hometown team in Toronto, and had a line of 12-11-23.
Add in a stretch in which Fantilli scored seven times in the last six games and he finished with 31 goals on the season, making him the youngest player in the NHL to top the 30-goal mark this year. He also proved his durability after last season's injury, playing in all 82 games.
Much of that goes back to his offseason training, including that time in Nova Svotia as well as a big chunk of summer spent skating in Michigan with teammate Zach Werenski, the Hughes brothers and other NHLers.
“He works hard,” Werenski said of Fantilli. “It’s hard not to work hard in the group we have there. Everyone pushes each other, and I don’t know if he realizes it, but he’s pretty fortunate to be in a group like that at such a young age. I wish I had that when I was his age. He has a lot of guys that are around the same age as him that are superstars in this league like the Hughes brothers, guys he’s familiar with, guys who are a little bit older but have been around for a real long time.
“He gets to see all different types of players in here and how hard they work. Everyone is different, right? Everyone likes different things and has different programs they do and whatnot, but at the end of the day we’re all pushing each other to get better.”
Werenski said this is just the start for Fantilli and is excited to be his teammate as he continues to grow.
“It’s one thing to be in here and be a part of it, but it’s another thing to learn and do it and take advantage of that, and he did that. It’s a credit to him and the type of player he wants to be,” Werenski said. “He’s just starting to scratch the surface of the player he’s going to become, and that’s super exciting for this organization.”
This year was Fantilli's first taste of what playoff hockey looks like as the Blue Jackets were in “must-win” mode for much of the second half of the season, and especially down the stretch as when they won each of their last six games. The fact that Fantilli brought his best game and was so impactful wasn’t lost on someone like Werenski.
“He’s playing his best hockey, and I think that’s probably the most important thing is he’s showing he’s a big-time player at such a young age,” Werenski said. “It’s exciting for the organization, the city, the fans, his teammates, guys like me that are a little bit older now. To have a guy like that in this organization, it gets you excited.”
Now going into another summer with another opportunity to grow for the 2025-26 season, Fantilli is excited to have a longer offseason to train and be a big factor in getting the Blue Jackets into the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“Last summer I was focused a lot on making sure I was good to go on my calf and everything was getting rehabbed properly,” Fantilli said. “I think when it was all said and done, I had eight weeks of full-go offseason. I think I will have a lot longer this year. I will be training with (Werenski) for a while in Michigan.
“Obviously falling short this year is a disappointment, and we will have a mindset going into this summer and especially next season that we won’t let this happen again.”
