Columbus Blue Jackets development camp: 5 storylines
Life has come full circle for Adam Fantilli.
After being selected third overall by the Blue Jackets last week in the NHL draft, the former Michigan center came straight to Columbus and signed his first NHL contract before participating in what will likely be the only NHL development camp he’ll ever attend.
Not long ago, Fantilli was just like the kids who showed up to watch him and other Jackets prospects at OhioHealth Chiller North, culminating with the prospects game Wednesday decided by Hunter Mckown’s shootout goal. Fantilli’s team didn’t win, but he finished with a hat trick (three goals) and four points to finish his first week as a Blue Jacket impressively.
The stands were packed the entire game and fans lined the outside of one end zone while kids chanted, “Fan-till-i! Fan-till-i! Fan-till-i!” during warmups.
It was quite a capper to a crazy week for the newly-minted No. 11.
“I remember being a kid in Toronto and having guys come through there, and I’d always want them to stop and take a picture with them and watch them play,” Fantilli said. “I’m just happy that I’m able to be that kind of guy and return the favor and spend time with kids like that. The warm-welcome’s been amazing, and I can’t appreciate it more, but I’m super excited to get back here in the fall.”
He’s not the only one.
Here are five storylines from the Blue Jackets’ development camp:
Adam Fantilli drops jaws at Columbus Blue Jackets development camp
Fantilli didn’t disappoint.
He pulled off a “Michigan” lacrosse style goal on the camp’s first day, scored with a between-the-legs shot two days later and wowed from start-to-finish.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets go big on small forwards in NHL draft's second day
The goaltending wasn’t NHL caliber, but Fantilli looked every bit the part of a third overall pick who is likely to start the upcoming season with a spot in the Blue Jackets' lineup. He stood out as the only player who looked like an NHL regular, on the ice and off.
“He’s a mature young player and that’s part of the reason we had him so high, and why we think so highly of him,” Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. “We watched him over and over and over so many times this year ... but it’s nice to see it up close here too.”
Injury keeps Stanislav Svozil off ice at Columbus Blue Jackets development camp
Stanislav Svozil didn’t skate during the camp due to an offseason ankle injury.
Coming off a strong season in junior with the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats, Svozil was hurt about a month ago in his hometown of Prerov, Czechia. It happened while playing tennis with his grandfather.
“Almost every day, I played tennis with my friend, (Czechia national team goalie) Tomas Suchonek,” Svozil said. “One day, I was doing something else, maybe fishing, and I visited my granddad. He said, ‘Hey, let’s play tennis for an hour.’ I said, ‘Okay,’ and then that happened in the first five minutes.”
Svozil, who made his NHL debut in the final two games last season, was given a 6-to-8 week recovery timeline. He’s four weeks into it and will remain in Columbus up to four more weeks before returning to Czechia to watch his younger brother, David, play for their country Aug. 1-6 in the Hlinka/Gretzky Cup.
After that, it's back to Columbus to prepare for his third Traverse City prospects tournament and NHL training camp. As for the ill-fated volley that led to the injury?
“I didn’t even hit that ball, because that was a short ball, right near the net,” Svozil said. “I was running to the ball and I missed it, and then my ankle cracked when I slid for it. My granddad feels bad, but it’s not his fault.”
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Denton Mateychuk bulking up
Denton Mateychuk used his ice time during camp to get more comfortable skating at a heavier weight.
The slick puck-moving defenseman, picked 12th overall in 2022, has added 10 pounds to his stout 5-foot-11 frame since his season ended with Moosejaw of the WHL. Mateychuk was listed on the camp roster at 188 pounds, but that was his playing weight last season.
He arrived for camp at 205 pounds, but may trim that to 200 pounds before returning for the Jackets’ prospect tournament and his second NHL training camp in September.
“Ten pounds is quite a bit, so I’m still getting used to it,” Mateychuk said. “I’ve started to feel a lot better on my skates. I’ve sort of been digging in a little bit more (into the ice) with that extra weight pushing down, so it’s just something you’ve got to get used to, and the more I skate, the better I’ll feel with it."
The goal is to build an NHL body that will allow Mateychuk to effectively defend without losing his strong skating ability. Mateychuk and the Blue Jackets are pleased with his progress.
“When we talked after I left (training) camp last year, they just said, ‘Come back here stronger,’ and I took that and tried to do what I could with it,” Mateychuk said. “I’m trying to put on the right type of weight, where I still feel powerful and still feel like my skating’s really good, and I think it’s been a real good start to that.”
Columbus Blue Jackets want David Jiricek to spend summer at home
David Jiricek had a non-stop 2022-23 season that included his first NHL training camp, playing a full slate in the American Hockey League, making his NHL debut for the Blue Jackets and playing for Czechia in two world junior championships.
That’s a big reason the sixth pick in the 2022 NHL draft didn’t attend this year’s development camp. Jiricek sustained an undisclosed injury in May that kept him from playing in the men’s world championships, but his absence this week was mainly just to slow his life down for a while.
“He played world junior in August (2022), played world juniors (again in January) and then he got injured before the world championships,” Kekalainen said. “He’s been here and done that (at development camp), so let him work out and get his summer training in, and come to (fall) camp rather than going back and forth all the time.”
Ohio State women’s hockey coach Nadine Muzerall lends a hand
A new coach for this development camp was already a familiar name and face around Columbus.
Nadine Muzerall, Ohio State women’s hockey head coach, laced up her skates and put on Blue Jackets gear after accepting an invitation from Rick Nash, the Jackets' director of player development, to join the camp's coaching staff.
Muzerall instructed drills during the first three days and ran the White team's bench during the prospects game Wednesday, enjoying the whole week.
“Rick called me up and talked to me about what they wanted, and I was so excited,” Muzerall said. “It’s our hometown and I’m a big Blue Jackets fan now, so you want to support the boys and their success too. So, I’m just happy to be learning and absorbing. I’m like a sponge this week.”
Muzerall has coached the Buckeyes for seven seasons and led them to an NCAA national championship in 2021-22. She’s from Mississauga, Ontario, starred as a collegiate player for the University of Minnesota and now has two young kids starting their hockey careers — including her 9-year old daughter. Muzerall received offers from other NHL teams to participate in development camps, but accepting this one was easy.
“I didn’t have to think about it at all,” she said. “It’s your hometown crew, so you’ve got to be loyal to them. I think it’s just an opportunity for me, as a woman, to trailblaze and create opportunities for women or the next generation of women. I don’t know about coaching in the NHL … that’s a lot of hockey games. Eighty-two games are a lot, but it’s about networking and it’s about opportunity and these guys have been very welcoming to me, both the players and the entire staff.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 5 storylines from Columbus Blue Jackets development camp
