Through his first seven games in the NHL, Adam Fantilli has been as advertised.
The 19-year-old rookie is tied for fourth on the team with four points (two goals, two assists) and hasn't looked out of place or overwhelmed so far.
The first goal in the NHL career of Adam Fantilli #CBJ pic.twitter.com/EqEwaaBpgv
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 22, 2023
Expectations are always high for top draft picks like Fantilli, whom the Blue Jackets selected 3rd overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, and the stats show that they were warranted.
Among skaters with at least 75 minutes of five-on-five TOI, Fantilli is 14th in five-on-five individual expected goals per 60 minutes (ixG/60), according to naturalstattrick.com. His 1.32 five-on-five ixG/60 is higher than players such as David Pasternak, Auston Matthews, Tage Thompson, Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Eichel, and Sidney Crosby.
According to moneypuck.com, Fantilli has registered three takeaways in all situations as opposed to just one giveaway in addition to drawing and committing two minor penalties.
Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent clearly trusts Fantilli, as he's third and fourth among Columbus forwards in even strength (95:49) and power-play (19:17) time on ice, respectively.
#CBJ Fantilli (2) goal pic.twitter.com/84e5FsM898
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 25, 2023
One area of improvement that sticks out is in the face-off circle, where Fantilli has won 44% of his draws. However, rookies notoriously struggle in that area, and the fact that he's almost at 50% while ranking sixth in face-off percentage among the 11 rookies who have taken at least 10 draws is promising. For context, Crosby won 45.5% of his face-offs as a rookie.
Fantilli has quickly established himself as one of the league's faster players, according to NHL EDGE, the league's player and puck tracking data.
As shown in the above picture, Fantilli ranks in the 98th percentile of skaters this season with 33 speed bursts over 20 mph, so his speed and pace have translated to the NHL level.
Overall, Fantilli has made a tremendous early impression, showing everyone why he was such a highly-regarded prospect. It's early, but all signs point to him being a dominant player at the NHL level.
