When will Adam Fantilli and the Columbus Blue Jackets come to terms on an extension?
The NHL is in the dog days of the offseason. There are a few restricted free agents remaining who still need new contracts. Entering this offseason many were watching the “Big Three” from the 2023 NHL Draft, Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, and Leo Carlsson.
All were restricted free agents coming out of their entry-level deals and eligible for offer sheets. However, there was a catch. Each of those players was waiting for the other to set the market. Many figured Bedard was going to go first. Nobody thought it was going to be Carlsson who set the market for this group of RFAs.
With the Anaheim Ducks matching the five-year, $18 million-a-season offer sheet to Leo Carlsson, Connor Bedard signed a five-year, $15 million-a-season deal; the last one to sign a new contract is Adam Fantilli of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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Aaron Portzline of The Athletic joined SiriusXM NHL Network Radio Power Play on Monday and was asked when Adam Fantilli will sign his next deal and what the annual average value will look like.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Host: “Well, as we sit right now, Adam Fantilli is still a restricted free agent, obviously an important piece of what Columbus wants to be moving forward. Aaron, what does that contract potentially look like, and where are we at? It doesn’t feel like there’s a ton of concern on this one; it feels like at some point we are going to get something done, and Fantilli will be playing opening night for the Columbus Blue Jackets. But how close are we to getting pen to paper, do you think, on an Adam Fantilli contract?”
Aaron Portzline: “Yeah, well, that’s the sense that I’ve gotten as well, that it seems inevitable at some point here, and I think with each passing day, the likelihood, the possibility of an offer sheet seems to fade a bit.
I think the (Leo) Carlsson offer sheet brought it one direction, where people thought, “Boy, he’s going to get paid maybe more than the early talks were reflecting. I think (Connor) Bedard brings it back to reality that what Carlsson got is not an accurate picture of what those RFAs coming right out of their entry levels are going to get, even the elite players.
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So I suspect they’re paying somewhere between $13 and $14 million with Fantilli on a five-year deal. I believe that’s what they’re discussing. So yeah, I think he’s in uniform and in good graces with the team when the season started with the Blue Jackets this year.”
Given the market and where things are headed, as Portzline noted, the Auston Matthews effect is here, and expectations are that Fantilli will follow Bedard and Carlsson and sign a five-year deal with the Blue Jackets. However, most figure Fantilli will get closer to $14 million on an AAV, not $13 million.
Similar to Bedard, when Fantilli does eventually sign his new deal, he will probably say he had no intention of signing an offer sheet because if he did, it would have been done by now with Columbus matching any number presented to him.
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