Adam Fantilli is considered the top prospect for this year's Ontario Hockey League draft and, down the road, for the NHL Draft.
A Toronto native, Fantilli, 15, has size, speed, smarts and desire. And, it's safe to say, a very good sense of loyalty, which is one of those intangibles teams look for but have a hard time quantifying when scouting players.
Heading into this season, Fantilli was thought to be planning on playing another season in the Greater Toronto Hockey League, where he had been the season prior. But when the opportunity arose to play alongside his brother at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H., he couldn't turn it down.
"Every kid grows up dreaming about playing with their brother, playing mini-sticks, setting up those plays, but they might be a couple of years apart," he said about, Luca, a defenseman. "We had that opportunity and I didn’t want to give that up."
Fortuitously, when previous Kimball Union commit James Malatesta decided instead to play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for Patrick Roy's Quebec Remparts, a spot opened up. And that's when Fantilli decided he wanted to play New England prep hockey.
"We did have a spot, a second-line center, a legitimate spot open, and so we told him we’d love to have him," KUA head coach Tim Whitehead said. "The brothers were excited about it, the family was excited about it, and it’s been fantastic, it’s been great to have the brothers on the team and part of the school community, they’re great kids. They’re a wonderful family and (the brothers are) involved in a lot of ways at school, they don’t just go to the rink, they’re really good kids in the dorm and around campus, the classroom, they’re very positive, enthusiastic, real nice kids."
Fantilli, a center, has been lumped in with other top-notch 15-year-olds, such as phenoms Shane Wright and Matthew Savoie, in terms of high-NHL draft potential, but both of those players are playing in the Canadian Hockey League. And both of those players have January birthdays and thus will be eligible for the NHL Draft in 2022, while, as a late-2004, Fantilli won't be eligible until 2023.
Meanwhile, attending prep school allows him another year to consider college after his prep season. One scout said he has noticed seeing Michigan at Kimball Union games at least twice this season, a rarity.
Coming to prep hockey has been an adjustment for Fantilli.
"GTHL is really skilled, a lot of skilled players," Fantilli said, "but (at the prep level) it’s the same thing, it’s bigger, faster, stronger, everybody in prep’s 19, 18. It’s getting used to playing at that faster level with less time and space."
Fantilli, at 6-2, 175 pounds, already has decent size -- which helps continue his progress against older players. In 15 games this season, he has 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points. Against nationally renown Shattuck-St Mary’s on Sunday at the True Prep Cup, he had a goal and an assist in KUA 4-3 win.
Fantilli knows well his strengths: "Skating is my best strength, my agility and edgework, explosiveness. And after that it would be shooting, scoring."
As for his weaknesses: "Probably taking time to make the right decisions. I often try and make dekes that aren’t there instead of hanging on to it make sure there’s 100 percent chance of it working."
To address his weaknesses, Fantilli has been working with family friend and trainer Dave D’ammizio: "He’s my second father, he was my sponsor at my confirmation, he reviews video with me every week or sometimes two times a week, and he does drills with me that translate from the video to the ice and re-create certain situations that I might have been in on the ice in a game."
No one sees him more frequently and in different situations than his coach, so Whitehead has a good sense of his young center's capabilities.
"He’s a very dynamic player, he’s got exceptional speed, exceptional skill, and a big-time scoring touch," Whitehead said. "And, I would add, a legitimate physical mean streak. So he's got a lot of ingredients. As he’s developed throughout the fall and now into the winter, we have to keep reminding ourselves that he just turned 15. He’s a big kid, he loves the weight room, he trains hard, and he’s only going to get ... bigger, faster, stronger, if that’s possible. And it certainly is.
"The remarkable thing about Adam is that he’s able to make skilled plays, moves and shots at high speed, and make them successfully. Other kids try those moves in practice where they’re moving slow and in a non-competitive situation, and they have trouble with some of those toe drags or head fakes, putting the puck through the triangle on a one-on-one, that kind of stuff. He does it at full speed and in a game situation, and it works.
"And he’s very coachable, he’s working hard to become a two-way center, he’s certainly very physical, he can skate all day. He’s going to be a great centerman. He is jumping up two or three levels playing for us instead of minor midget in Toronto, so he can’t just walk through the opponents every time he’s out there, so that’s been an adjustment. But it’s been a good adjustment, from all he tells me and his parents tell me, and just observing him.
"It hasn’t come easily all the time both in practice and in games, and that is something I think he needed at this point in his development, was to really push himself and see what he could do at higher levels. He’s certainly risen to the challenge."
Fantilli likens his game to that of a current Colorado Avalanche superstar, as well as a familiar Boston Bruin.
"Nathan McKinnon is the No. 1, I try to do everything after what he does," Fantilli said. "When it comes to in-tight scoring-wise, I model it after David Pastrnak and his quick release and scorer’s touch."
Whitehead sees the comparison with MacKinnon:
"He’s going to be a big rig like MacKinnon, and he really takes a lot of pride in developing his defensive game, face-offs, penalty killing, playing defensively down low as a centerman," Whitehead said. "We could easily play him on wing, but at this point in his development because it’s easier to play wing -- you don’t have to defend as much, you’ve got to block shots and win pucks on the wall, but you don’t have to take draws, you’re usually not the low guy in the D zone -- and he’s playing against some kids that are on their way to college next year, so he’s had to match up with some of the other teams’ top players, and he’s done it. His adjustment has been very quick.
"I do see a comparison there as far as the skating, the skill, the physical presence, the courage, and being a dynamic two-way player. Right now, his strength is his offensive abilities, but it won’t take him long to get up to speed defensively and he certainly is taking pride in it already. It’s great to see."
Brother Luca, whom KUA recruited, has been a big help for his younger brother.
"It’s always just moral support, we always just help each other out at certain times, whether we’re having good games or bad games, he more showed me the skills side of the game," Adam Fantilli said. "I was more of go-as-hard-as-you-can, don’t-think-about-it (approach), he kind of showed me both sides of the game."
"They are really supportive of each other, so when guy is on the ice and another guy is on the bench, Adam is the first guy to praise Luca, or Luca to praise Adam," Whitehead said.
Ultimately, with all the accolades and draft buzz, one goal remains for Fantilli:
"We’re three-time reigning champs," he said, "and I hope to be a part of the fourth."
Paul Grant is an editor and a writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at pgrant@hockeyjournal.com.
