(Columbus) Much has been made of the Canadian’s youth, but among the Blue Jackets too, there are several who make us feel old with their year of birth which begins with 2.
When the 32 start-of-season rosters were revealed by the NHL in October, Columbus (26.2) and Montreal (26.3) were 2nd and 3rd respectively for average age. Only the Buffalo Sabers (26) had a younger roster.
In Columbus, it starts with Adam Fantilli, the youngest of the lot. Drafted 3rd overall last summer, the big forward celebrated his 19th birthday last month. In addition to adapting to the NHL on the ice, he is discovering the other differences between the NCAA, where he played last year, and the professional ranks. “It’s different here, the guys have a wife, children, they have their lives! », notes the charismatic Fantilli, in the Blue Jackets locker room after Wednesday’s morning training.
Fantilli is off to a very adequate start for a youngster, but not dazzling either. After 23 games, he is tied for 7th among NHL rookies with 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists), some distance behind Connor Bedard and his 17 points in 20 outings.
Many rookies will mention the speed or size of players when asked to identify the biggest difference once in the NHL. Fantilli instead sees the positioning of the players. “Everyone is always in the right place, defensively too. They’re on you right away. Time and space are cut in half, so you have to make your plays faster and you have to already know what you’re going to do with the puck before you even receive it. »
Earlier in this trip, the Canadian faced the Ducks, who established a plan including breaks for Leo Carlsson, also drafted last summer. Pascal Vincent assures that such a plan is not in the cards for Fantilli, at least for the moment.
“We’re keeping an eye on him. He is used to around fifty matches per year. We look at how he plays based on his energy. If we see that it starts to decrease, we will adjust the plan, but currently, he is part of the team and we don’t see why we would adjust his schedule,” commented the Blue Jackets head coach.
Obviously, with such a young squad at hand, Vincent must necessarily entrust responsibilities to players who, in older teams, would not do so much.
Among the forwards, for example, Cole Sillinger at 20 years old, already occupies a central role on the penalty kill. Ditto for Alexandre Texier, 24 years old, but who had never played regularly on the disadvantage before this season.
Sillinger and Texier are surrounded by veterans, however, so the Jackets come in 2nd in the NHL in shorthanded play, with an 89.2% success rate. Martin St-Louis is also well aware of the success of his opponents on Wednesday night, as he mentioned that Columbus had drained “38 of their last 40 penalties”, a true statistic, a streak which began on October 28.
“We have Sean Kuraly, Justin Danforth and defenders who are doing a good job, our goalkeepers too,” said Vincent. With Steve McCarthy, our defenders coach and responsible for the disadvantage, we have been building a plan for three years. We added things last year, then this year. Steve was excellent in his planning. Our goalkeepers know where the shots are going to come from. We do a good job of limiting dangerous plays. Guys, they’ve been hearing the same message for three years.
“But we’re not 1st yet, so there’s still work to do! »
When it comes to the young Jackets, the attention inevitably goes to Fantilli, but also to defenseman David Jiricek, 6th pick in the 2022 auction, who left a strong impression last year at 18 in the American League . At 14 minutes per game, however, the Czech has played a modest role so far.
One that’s less talked about is Dmitri Voronkov, a 6’5, 240 lb. behemoth. This 2019 4th round pick spent the first two weeks in the American League, but since his recall, he has 10 points in 17 outings. On Monday, against the Bruins, he scored again, beating veteran Derek Forbort in the corner.
He then acted as a giant screen in front of Jeremy Swayman, allowing Ivan Provorov to score. And as if he wasn’t already annoying enough, he also punched Charlie McAvoy in the corner, making the excellent Bruins defender suffer.
“It’s really impressive,” marvels Vincent. On his goal, he was in the corner with Forbort, but he is strong to win this battle and attack the net. He is also able to read his teammates and find openings on the ice. It’s impressive, especially since he doesn’t speak English. »
