The secret to his success? Just keep doing what he was doing.
“I don’t think I was frustrated,” said Fantilli, who now has nine goals and eight assists in 23 games. “I knew I was playing well. I liked my game. Obviously I’m really happy to be able to start contributing on the scoresheet. That’s what I’m here for and what I have to do, but I still really liked the way I was playing. Really happy though they’ve started to go in now.”
That’s music to the ears of head coach Dean Evason, who has been in the game long enough to know what sometimes happens when young players don’t light the lamp. Such players as Fantilli have been the main offensive guys their entire life – heck, Fantilli scored 30 goals in 36 games while winning the Hobey Baker Award as a freshman at Michigan – and sometimes when the puck inevitably doesn’t go in at the highest level, it’s a hard pill to swallow.
Fantilli maintains that wasn’t the case for him early this season, and it might have helped that Evason stressed to keep playing the right way.
“When we have our conversations with players, our one-on-ones or what have you, we don't say to them, well, in Fantilli's case, you scored 30 goals, we need 31 out of you this year,” Evason said. “We don't ask that. We just ask them to play the right way, to compete, to play the way that the Columbus Blue Jackets play on a consistent basis and then believe that that will allow you to have personal success.
“And if you do, then obviously you're gonna help the team win. That’s what we try to stress, and it's hard for young guys. They have all the stats we just talked about, they look at all those and the highlights and what have you, and it's just reminders to be good teammates and to do the right things on the ice to help your team win, and that's not asking them to just score goals.”
Fantilli has stuck to that message, and it might have been hard for him to do so if he listened to the outside noise. While Fantilli was the first player from his ballyhooed 2023 draft class to post a 30-goal season a year ago, it’s been a red-hot start to the season for the two players drafted ahead of him.
No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard is fourth in the NHL with 31 points in the early going, while second overall selection Leo Carlsson is tied for sixth with 29. Add in 2024 No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini’s placing second in the league with 34 points, and the breakout of some of the league’s young stars has been one of the top stories in hockey this year.
While Fantilli was finding his goal-scoring luck in the early going, instead of looking around with jealousy, he was appreciating what some of his peers were doing.
“They’re great players,” Fantilli said. “They’re doing their thing in this league. It’s great to see. I’m a fan, too. I love what they’re doing. It’s cool. I came into the league with these guys, but we’re all different players. I’m focusing on my game over here. I’m happy with the way it’s progressing. That’s all I’m gonna focus on.”
That’s another mark of his maturity, and it was noticed by CBJ veteran defenseman Zach Werenski.
“I think every situation is different, every opportunity is different,” Werenski said. “(Celebrini and Bedard), just to name two of them, are having incredible years, and deservedly so, they’re getting the recognition. I feel like it’s a little harder in Columbus to get that recognition. It just has been over the years, but we know what he brings, we know what he is, and we’re happy to have him.”
It also hasn’t hurt that of late, Fantilli has formed an impressive trio with wings Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov. That line came together for much of the second half of last season and had immediate chemistry, outscoring teams 21-8 at 5-on-5 amid Fantilli’s offensive breakout.
When the line was reunited this season, Marchenko – who had to miss Monday’s game at Washington – had the primary assist on four straight Fantilli goals.
“He is a good guy,” Marchenko said. “He is grown up. He’s stronger this year. I feel he just more understands how to play our game right now, me and Voro. We’re kind of a little bit different style of game – short passes, we try to make the right plays, good passes. We don’t play with the puck a long time, and now he really (understands) this kind of hockey and he’s making great passes, making small plays, like touch-touch, and it’s nice to see that for myself because he is giving me help too and we can grow together."
But in the end, it all just goes back to doing the right things and trusting that when you have the talent, success will follow. That’s the mind-set Fantilli has embraced, and it’s allowed him to make an impact on the scoreboard the last few weeks.
“I have to play the right way, and for the most part I think I have been doing that,” Fantilli said. “Yeah, I want to be on the scoresheet, I want to help us win games. You can’t win without scoring. I want to contribute there, but you also can’t win without playing the right way and defending properly, so I’ll just continue to do that.”
