MONCTON, N.B.—Connor Bedard has heard a great deal about Adam Fantilli. Fantilli has heard a great deal about Bedard. They are Canada’s next two hockey phenoms, teammates now at the national team’s selection camp for the world junior championship.
Bedard is the speedy, dazzling playmaker from the Regina Pats — he’s on a 27-game scoring streak in the Western Hockey League — and he already has a world junior gold medal to his credit. Fantilli is a bigger, hulkier freshman scorer at the University of Michigan.
If Bedard doesn’t go first in the NHL draft in Nashville in June, it will be because of Fantilli; they are two players scouts say could be franchise cornerstones.
“We’re good friends and I’m cheering for him,” Bedard said. “I follow his stats and his game. He’s been unreal, so it’s been awesome. I think it’s funny when people pit us against each other. We’ve joked about it a bit but we’re both cheering for each other (and) now we’re on the same team. I’m hoping all the best for him.”
The feeling is mutual. “We were joking about it on the ice,” said Fantilli. “We don’t wish bad on each other. He’s a great player. There’s absolutely nothing to be upset about. (I) just watch him do his thing, learn what I can from him and just let things go the way they do.”
Canadian hockey fans are probably more familiar with Bedard. He burst onto the national spotlight a year ago, earning a spot on the world junior team at 16, a feat not accomplished since Connor McDavid did it in 2014. Then he went on to score four goals in a game against Austria, though that tournament was ultimately cancelled due to COVID. He came back to help Canada win gold in the makeup summertime event in Edmonton, with four goals and four assists. And he says he’s a better player now than he was then.
“I think my faceoffs are a lot better, and I’m playing better (on the) penalty kill, I’m improving in the defensive zone,” he said.
Bedard is five-foot-10 and 165 pounds and wears No. 16 for Canada. He looks a bit like Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner on the ice, making plays out of nothing and making it all seem so effortless. The North Vancouver, B.C., native will turn 18 in July. Some have compared him more directly to McDavid.
Bringing him back was a no-brainer for Alan Millar, Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel.
“Connor just continues to take those steps,” said Millar. “We all know what he can do with the puck on his stick and his skill level and his hockey sense and how he shoots the puck and all those things. But I think we’re going to see a Connor Bedard game that’s matured in terms of that complete game.
“When you get into those key games, matchups are important. He’s going to play a role where he’s going to be playing against the other team’s top players. He’ll have to be cognizant of defence. And he knows that. He’s prepared for that.”
Fantilli is six-foot-two and 195 pounds, an imposing presence and a hard shot. He sees himself in the Nathan MacKinnon-Jamie Benn-Patrice Bergeron mould, though it is Auston Matthews whose shot he wants to duplicate.
The Nobleton, Ont., native has flown under the radar somewhat. After his GTHL career with the Red Wings and Jr. Canadiens, he went to the Chicago Steel of the USHL and is now at Michigan, where he has 11 goals and 15 assists in 16 games. He turned 18 in October.
“I got a late birthday so I would have been three years in the CHL before even being eligible for the NHL,” Fantilli said. “I figured if I were to stay in college and play against 22- or 23-year-olds, it would be a bit better for my development.”
Fantilli has been in and out of Hockey Canada’s program, last playing in the world under-18 tournament, with Bedard, in the spring. Bedard had six goals. Fantilli had one.
“The package is intriguing in terms of size, the way he skates, the way he handles the puck, the way he shoots the puck,” Millar said. “He obviously got off to an outstanding start as an 18 year old freshman at the University of Michigan. And now we’ll see how it translates at this level and if he can earn his way onto our club.”
Bedard is likely a lock to make the team. He and most of the Canadian players who are returning either from the NHL or the gold-medal team won’t play in Sunday’s exhibition game against university players at Avenir Centre. Fantilli will, a sign the coaches need to see what he can do before the cuts come Monday.
Most of the players in the world junior tournament will be 19, meaning they have already been drafted or passed over. But the presence of Bedard and Fantilli on the same team will add a layer of intrigue in terms of the discussion of who will go first in the draft, which is a reflection of who scouts think will have the best NHL career and not who is the best player at the moment.
The debate could rage all year.
“That’s outside noise,” Bedard said. “When you’re in the room and focused on winning, it’s easy to block that stuff.”
“That’s what comes with it,” Fantilli said. “It’s a big year for both of us so we’re trying to do our best.”
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