C Adam Fantilli - (2023, 3rd, CBJ) Part 2

  • Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates
Status
Not open for further replies.
I think Carlsson has more offensive side than Fantilli. But Anaheim really needs a more physical two way player and with speed. I‘m sorta torn between the two, but I think Fantilli checks all the boxes for Anaheim, so am leaning towards him.
I don't find Fantilli physical at all though. I think Carlsson has a legit shot at 2OA. Fanitilli drops to 3.
 
Jack Hughes - 3 points
Krappo Krappo - people thought he was the “the most NHL ready prospect” after the world hockey championships in his draft year

Beniers - 2 points in the same tournament in his draft year, about to win the calder
 
Last edited:
Jack Hughes - 3 points
Krappo Krappo - people thought he was the “the most NHL ready prospect” after the world hockey championships in his draft year

Beniers - 2 points in the same tournament in his draft year, about to win the calder
Kakko is much bigger than Hughes. I was skeptical of Hughes because he was losing stability on the skates with every contact.

Personally, I had Carlsson 3 and Fantilli 4 before the tournament. For now, it stays the same.

Throughout the past 5 years, I have never been convinced about Fantilli as a future NHL star.

But hey, my preference for Carlsson is slight. It's like comparing a student who has 17.3/20 against another who has 17.2/20
 
  • Like
Reactions: golgoXIII
And Fantilli doesn't even look like the best player among those scrubs.

Meanwhile Carlsson has been one of Sweden's best players.
One has played a whole year against grown men in a European pro league. This is Fantilli's first time against that level of competition. To say nothing of the fact that Carlsson has had the same linemates throughout the tournament while Fantilli is constantly shuffled around the lineup. Kind of hard to develop chemistry when you don't know who you're going to play with next game or even next period.

All that said, no I wouldn't say Fantilli has looked like the best player on his team. But that's a bit of an absurd expectation of someone with zero experience playing against grown men versus a guy with a full year's worth (and I'd argue he's been better than more than half of his teammates overall). All it means is Carlsson is closer to being NHL ready. Both have plenty of room to grow and the comparison between both guys' respective learning curves is to be determined.

That's the objective side. Subjectively I think Fantilli has played at the highest pace of anyone on his team not named Carcone in this tournament and he's been generating plenty of chances, just his own inexperience and the weakness of his linemates, those chances aren't getting converted. It happens with young players in this tournament sometimes. Sometimes you get a Crosby who absolutely demolishes the competition, sometimes you get an Ovechkin who only gets 2 points in 6 games yet has a comparable career.

This tournament, like any small sample international competition is not the be all, end all.
 
As a Ducks fan who's been a Fantilli fanboy for a few months now, I'll admit that I'd hope for more production out of Fantilli and that he is sometimes too frantic in the offensive zone that does possess some concerns, but yeesh, don't go only from the stat-sheet when you assess Fantilli.

He has clearly adapted to a 4th line role despite being black-on-white clearly better than his linemates and most of the teammates. Almost every game he has set up a grade-A chance for his linemates that just doesn't go in for some reason. He has been flat-out open in the slot and not receiving passes from his teammates... He is flying out there, he's a pain to play against with his physicality as heš ALWAYS looking to lay the body. He's working his ass off and lately, it seems some frustration is coming out of him.

On the PP when the game slows down, he is making those smart decisions with the puck. Itš on even strength where he's keeping up a pace that his linemates just simply can not.

I'm calm as Carlsson is a phenomenal prospect as well, and he's our ''worst-case scenario'' for me – everything GMPV has said and done indicates we're picking one of the two. But I'm still hoping we pick Fantilli and I think there's a great chance of that but interviews will play a big role now, I imagine.

Ovi had 2 points in pre-draft WC. McKinnon had 4 points in his post-draft WC. Slaf was above PPG. These tournaments are important but not the benchmark.
 
Jack Hughes - 3 points
Krappo Krappo - people thought he was the “the most NHL ready prospect” after the world hockey championships in his draft year

Beniers - 2 points in the same tournament in his draft year, about to win the calder

Fantilli just is build like Kakko, not Hughes
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fatass
Jack Hughes - 3 points
Krappo Krappo - people thought he was the “the most NHL ready prospect” after the world hockey championships in his draft year

Beniers - 2 points in the same tournament in his draft year, about to win the calder
Hughes looked like a 12 year old when he was drafted. And based on hype it almost seems like it would be a disappointment if Fantilli "only" does what Beniers has done post-draft. Yeah, Kakko shows you can't only look at one tournament, but it doesn't mean it's a good thing for a player to not perform up to expectations.
 
One has played a whole year against grown men in a European pro league. This is Fantilli's first time against that level of competition. To say nothing of the fact that Carlsson has had the same linemates throughout the tournament while Fantilli is constantly shuffled around the lineup. Kind of hard to develop chemistry when you don't know who you're going to play with next game or even next period.

All that said, no I wouldn't say Fantilli has looked like the best player on his team. But that's a bit of an absurd expectation of someone with zero experience playing against grown men versus a guy with a full year's worth (and I'd argue he's been better than more than half of his teammates overall). All it means is Carlsson is closer to being NHL ready. Both have plenty of room to grow and the comparison between both guys' respective learning curves is to be determined.

That's the objective side. Subjectively I think Fantilli has played at the highest pace of anyone on his team not named Carcone in this tournament and he's been generating plenty of chances, just his own inexperience and the weakness of his linemates, those chances aren't getting converted. It happens with young players in this tournament sometimes. Sometimes you get a Crosby who absolutely demolishes the competition, sometimes you get an Ovechkin who only gets 2 points in 6 games yet has a comparable career.

This tournament, like any small sample international competition is not the be all, end all.
Which is kind of a new narrative, right? For the longest time it's been expected that Fantilli was the more NHL ready player of the two, with Carlsson perhaps being more of a project with a higher upside.

I think Fantilli's ability to play at a high pace will make him effective off the rush, but his inability to slow things down and make good decisions under pressure is a major red flag for me in terns of offensive upside. He had common issues at the WJC, and even at certain points in the NCAA.

He reminds me a bit of Taylor Hall in that way, but I think Hall was the more gifted offensive player.
 
  • Like
Reactions: majormajor
As a Ducks fan who's been a Fantilli fanboy for a few months now, I'll admit that I'd hope for more production out of Fantilli and that he is sometimes too frantic in the offensive zone that does possess some concerns, but yeesh, don't go only from the stat-sheet when you assess Fantilli.

He has clearly adapted to a 4th line role despite being black-on-white clearly better than his linemates and most of the teammates. Almost every game he has set up a grade-A chance for his linemates that just doesn't go in for some reason. He has been flat-out open in the slot and not receiving passes from his teammates... He is flying out there, he's a pain to play against with his physicality as heš ALWAYS looking to lay the body. He's working his ass off and lately, it seems some frustration is coming out of him.

On the PP when the game slows down, he is making those smart decisions with the puck. Itš on even strength where he's keeping up a pace that his linemates just simply can not.

I'm calm as Carlsson is a phenomenal prospect as well, and he's our ''worst-case scenario'' for me – everything GMPV has said and done indicates we're picking one of the two. But I'm still hoping we pick Fantilli and I think there's a great chance of that but interviews will play a big role now, I imagine.

Ovi had 2 points in pre-draft WC. McKinnon had 4 points in his post-draft WC. Slaf was above PPG. These tournaments are important but not the benchmark.
I think Fantilli has been fine in the role he's been asked to play. With time and space, he's going to be able to push the pace make plays. But when he's had opportunities to make plays under pressure he looks panicked.
 
As a Ducks fan who's been a Fantilli fanboy for a few months now, I'll admit that I'd hope for more production out of Fantilli and that he is sometimes too frantic in the offensive zone that does possess some concerns, but yeesh, don't go only from the stat-sheet when you assess Fantilli.

He has clearly adapted to a 4th line role despite being black-on-white clearly better than his linemates and most of the teammates. Almost every game he has set up a grade-A chance for his linemates that just doesn't go in for some reason. He has been flat-out open in the slot and not receiving passes from his teammates... He is flying out there, he's a pain to play against with his physicality as heš ALWAYS looking to lay the body. He's working his ass off and lately, it seems some frustration is coming out of him.

On the PP when the game slows down, he is making those smart decisions with the puck. Itš on even strength where he's keeping up a pace that his linemates just simply can not.

I'm calm as Carlsson is a phenomenal prospect as well, and he's our ''worst-case scenario'' for me – everything GMPV has said and done indicates we're picking one of the two. But I'm still hoping we pick Fantilli and I think there's a great chance of that but interviews will play a big role now, I imagine.

Ovi had 2 points in pre-draft WC. McKinnon had 4 points in his post-draft WC. Slaf was above PPG. These tournaments are important but not the benchmark.
From watching the tournament, Fantilli has actually been setting up and creating so many scoring chances but the teams finishing is so piss poor this year that the points haven’t been converting. He’s been quite snakebitten in terms of production but the play level is there if you watch for it.
 
Pretty crazy how knee-jerk everyone is being while just watching stats. Fantilli should have never been a lock at 2 given the quality of the draft in the top 5, but he also shouldn’t be tumbling down any boards because he’s playing a limited role at a short tournament with established pros. I thought he was extremely noticeable the first few games of the tournament even if the points weren’t really coming.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kalv
I mean he led his team in HD scoring chances last game in 11 minutes of ice time.

Played like 9 minutes the game before before his ejection for a clean hit.

The pace doesn’t seem to be too much for him
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kalv
Again, there seems to be this expectation that every #1 or #2 pick is coming to come into the NHL and go gangbusters from the start. That is the exception, not the rule. We've been spoiled with the likes of McDavid, Matthews, etc. What is more likely to happen is an adjustment period of a season or two, in particular on poor teams. Fantilli is a fine prospect. He is skilled, skates well, has size, and has shown increased physicality-even an edge. He's been fine in this tournament. Not put up a lot of points but he's been involved and has made some nice plays. He's also thrown his body around and been chippy. That's a positive in my opinion.
 
Which is kind of a new narrative, right? For the longest time it's been expected that Fantilli was the more NHL ready player of the two, with Carlsson perhaps being more of a project with a higher upside.

I think Fantilli's ability to play at a high pace will make him effective off the rush, but his inability to slow things down and make good decisions under pressure is a major red flag for me in terns of offensive upside. He had common issues at the WJC, and even at certain points in the NCAA.

He reminds me a bit of Taylor Hall in that way, but I think Hall was the more gifted offensive player.

Paragraph 1: I don't know why anyone thought that. Carlsson has the physical build and has been playing against adults for much longer. He'll have different challenges to adapt to the NHL in that NHL play is higher paced and on smaller ice. But with respect to being physically capable and playing a responsible enough game, you could plug him in to the NHL at this stage. Whether rushing him like that through trial by fire without more development is a good idea or not is a different debate.

Paragraph 2: those are coachable issues though. Not everyone succeeds at it but I think you're diluting what Fantilli is actually capable of by restricting his upside to only being effective off the rush. The way I've been seeing his tournament is, yeah, there's times where his positioning in the offensive zone isn't the best and he's made the occasional misconceived pass, but again that comes with making the jump from college to play with grown, professional adults for the first time. Something Carlsson is well accustomed to at this point. But I wouldn't characterize his stint at these worlds as a continuing exercise in not being able to slow things down and make good decisions with the puck when I've noted the opposite. Compared to my previous viewings he's seemed to have really improved that area of his game and has been more effective at recognizing when the situation calls for a disengage and a hand off pass to a linemate and from there he keeps his feet moving to try to go find good positioning to be ready for a scoring chance. Knowing what area that is may need work but it's not something that can't be learned from his draft year on. If you have a 23-25 year old, odds are that guy is set in his ways and there's not much room for growth there. Fantilli's entire professional development sample is these 7 games.

Don't get me wrong, I'm hoping Anaheim ends up with the best prospect available while accepting that that could be Matvei Michkov but that Verbeek probably won't shoulder that risk. So if it's between Fantilli and Carlsson I have no qualms about ending up with Carlsson as long as he was the best fit and the best option possible. I just wouldn't leave that decision up to the fact that Fantilli is less conditioned to play against adults than the other guy. Instead, ultimately I'm going to defer to the judgment of Martin Madden who's been one of the best head scouts in the league. My only vested interest is having the best familiarity possible with the guy that the Ducks end up picking and is hopefully a key component in turning Anaheim's rebuild around.
 
Last edited:
Kakko is much bigger than Hughes. I was skeptical of Hughes because he was losing stability on the skates with every contact.

Personally, I had Carlsson 3 and Fantilli 4 before the tournament. For now, it stays the same.

Throughout the past 5 years, I have never been convinced about Fantilli as a future NHL star.

But hey, my preference for Carlsson is slight. It's like comparing a student who has 17.3/20 against another who has 17.2/20
I feel the same way. Hughes showed hhof talent with the body of a 15 year old kid in his draft year. Puberty is really hard to understand fully.

Adam Fantilli has the body of a 22 year old NHL regular, but I don't think he has the talent or vision of an NHL superstar. Every time I watch Fantilli, there is some unexplainable alarm bells going off in my head telling me he shouldn't be drafted 2nd oa. I currently have Fantilli at #5 in my rankings after trusting my intuition, but I could look like a complete Kyle Dufas in 5 years. Leo Carlsson just grew into his body this year and looks to be adapting to it over the past 6 months. I like his projection as an NHL center.

Fantilli has all the talent and physical attributes to play in the NHL this year, so hopefully he has a great rookie season. There is nowhere to improve in an almost perfect rookie season in college
 
Fantilli will be a star if he can start processing the game at a faster pace. He's got all the talent but sometimes his hockey IQ isn't all the way where it needs to be.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WhiskeyYerTheDevils
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad