Are his numbers during international play at the WJC and now at the World's concerning to anyone else? This is the same series where Slafkovsky had 3 goals and 6 assists as a draft eligible player while playing for Slovakia.

I know how good he was in the NCAA... But I cannot help but wonder, does Fantilli play worse when the pressure is on?

Does this make you think about potentially drafting Carlsson?

IIRC, Fantilli has been on 3rd line LW duty at the tournament, whereas Carlsson is playing center on the top line. It makes sense that Fantilli is not putting up the points he could if he were playing on a higher line or at his natural position of center.

That said, I've heard the war room wasn't decided on Fantilli over Carlsson, as Leo may have a higher perceived ceiling. Scouting staff is going to do their job and pour over everything avaliable to make the right selection.

Personally, I'm high on Carlsson.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they are both going to be great players... It's just... He was underwhelming at the WJC... Now he's underwhelming at the World Championships.

My mind can't help going to... Fantastic regular season player, but underwhelming in the playoffs...

He’s only what 18/19 I’m sure with age he would handle the pressure better as he develops and matures and Anaheim is still 3-5 years out of competing so he has time.

As for the WJ performances, those I never really take into consideration so many guys have put up ridiculously good numbers there and done nothing with that. WJ is hard not a lot of time to prepare, might not mesh well with linemates, so many factors that especially with a young undeveloped player could throw off his game.

On the other hand what he did in the NCAA was crazy for a freshman and you gotta remember at the WJ’s he’s playing on European rinks, NCAA is similar as NHL. That could also play a part in his lack of production.

I have no doubt fantilli is gonna be a super star, to me this is like the mcdavid/ eichel selections if mcdavid wasn’t there eichel goes consensus 1OA and would go 1OA in most drafts that’s what i see with fantilli and being overlooked because bedard

Thanks for the response!

Do you feel the same way about the world championships as you do about the world Juniors? FWIW: Eichel had 2 goals and 5 assists in 10 games at the World Championships in his Draft year.

I am never concerned when a player doesn't perform as expected at the WJC or WC. Personally, I think Carlsson is the one who is overrated, but I watched a lot more of Fantilli than Carlsson this year. It's possible it takes him a season or two to acclimate to the pro level, but I believe he is the real deal.

Short answer? No.

Longer answer? absolutely not.

And then we saw his best highlight of the tournament


Getting ejected for a hit that’d probably not even be a minor penalty in the NHL

Obviously not, Carlsson hasn’t been much better at the tournament only 1 point more then him with more playing time

Thanks for sharing your perspective!

I think your argument about Carlsson is somewhat valid, but to be honest I worry because Carlsson is playing against more difficult competition and you would maybe expect Fantilli's innate skill to shine through, even if he's not getting power play time. Like if you put Eichel on the 3rd line left wing in this series, he would just torch everybody.

Anyway I get that it's a very small sample of games and that the body of work is amazing. Something just feels a bit off to me between the WJC and the WC.

Bedard overrated?

I haven’t got to watch the world championships yet this year so I haven’t seen if he has played well and just has no puck luck or is just playing bad, but it is another one of those Situations where it’s a few weeks of hockey with little prep time, it would be nice to see him perform considering he’s also playing with a lot of NHLers but again I’d rather take what he did in 40-50 games in the NCAA where he was able to adjust to a system and dominate rather then 2 short 10-12 game stints where he didn’t quite adjust till near the end of it.

If you don’t mind also who is his line mates? I wouldn’t expect much production from him if they slotted him in a 3rd/ 4th role where he’s with NHL role players like lucic you know

It's not uncommon for underage, undrafted players like Fantilli to not post eye-popping numbers at the World Juniors.

In the World Championships he's going up against grown men, so even though it's not a best-on-best, it would be like putting him in the AHL at this stage; he likely wouldn't be a point-per-game player, especially in the first handful of games.

No. He's the next gen O'Reilly, much faster and a bit meaner.

It's also quite typical for wingers to have an easier time with fast scoring breakouts than it is for centers, who have a lot more responsibilities to juggle.

Fantilli has played 3 games on unfamiliar ice surface, with unfamiliar teammates as 18-year old against professional rosters. It should have zero impact on his draft rating.

Unlike Fantilli, Bedard has only ever played against teenagers. If anything, his no-show leaves a bigger question mark.