“It was great,” he said a couple of days after the Devils game. “Obviously, I want to be playing against those guys. That’s ultimately where I want to be. Obviously, I’m not at the point where I can where I want to be yet, but I think getting that experience, getting that exposure to those guys is a good learning experience.
“I’m doing my best out there. None of my mistakes will ever be because of a lack of work ethic. I’m going to be trying my best. Sometimes I won’t have the best night, but that’s the way it is in the NHL. You’re playing against the best players in the world, and I really enjoy the challenge.”
For Vincent, meanwhile, the debate is just, how much is too much? A longtime junior and AHL head coach who is used to working with young players, Vincent knows he has a potential gem in Fantilli, the No. 3 overall pick in this past summer’s draft who is third among NHL rookie point scorers with 19 and also third with nine goals.
He is a superstar in the making, but Vincent also has said that the No. 1 component with a player as young as Fantilli is putting him in a position to succeed. That explains why he’s approached Fantilli’s recent ice time with a mix of excitement but also caution.
“It’s certainly a different matchup, and the situation is a little bit of fast forwarding the process,” the head coach said. “The responsibilities are a little bit different, and that’s when you see a guy like Boone, you see all the good things he does. For Fantilli, it’s growing, it’s understanding, it’s facing those difficult matchups and learning from that.
“We’re a little bit forced to do it, and that’s OK. I’m fine with that, but there’s a process to it.”
For Vincent, it’s a balance. He wants Fantilli to get those opportunities, but he’s also keeping a close eye on how things are going. As the coach has said, not all experience is automatically good experience, and he’s not been afraid to switch things up with Fantilli if he sees the rookie fighting things a bit or struggling while playing against some of the best players in the world.
“If we keep putting him in a position that the success is not there, then you start the lack of confidence creeping in,” Vincent said. “So we want to be really careful there. But for now, it’s been (a few) games, and we’re going to keep working with him in that position on the first line.”
So far, the results have had some ups and some downs. Fantilli is in the midst of an impressive stretch that includes five goals and nine points in the last 10 games, including a goal and an assist in the first period of Tuesday’s win at Buffalo. He also was on the ice for a 30-8 disadvantage in shot attempts at 5-on-5 in his homecoming game in Toronto, though the fact that he had hundreds of friends and family in the stands meant he was a little bit fired up. And last night’s game vs. Washington was one of his best performances, as the Jackets had a 15-3 edge in shots on goal at 5-on-5 with Fantilli on the ice.
He’s described his play through his opening few opportunities on the top line as “pretty good,” though hardly perfect. And his biggest area of improvement, he said, is on the defensive end, as his goal when facing the top centers in the game is to try to neutralize that player as much as possible defensively and then let the offense come from there.
It’s a mature perspective from a player who appears to be getting better on a daily basis.
“I'm not really looking too much at production right now, to be honest with you,” he said. “I'm more just trying to learn how to be a proper pro, learn from a lot of the guys in this locker that have been through similar situations, so more just trying to learn and take it day by day and bring my game to where I want it to be.
"Obviously, it's not where I want it to be yet, but I'm happy with how things have been going.”
Kirill Star?
Through the first two months of the season, it looked like the Blue Jackets might have a really cool story on their hands with Jenner, who was among the top goal scorers in the league in his 11th season.
Now the team’s all-time leader in games played, Jenner was producing like an All-Star through the opening weeks, which opened the possibility that the man who has come to define the team might also get the chance to represent it at the All-Star Game for the first time.
Then came the shot to the jaw that put him on the shelf, and Jenner’s timeline for a return would leave him as a question mark to be ready for the event the first weekend of February. Factor in the missed time, and it now seems unlikely he’ll be chosen as the CBJ representative for the event in Toronto.
That leaves an interesting group of players in the mix. Johnny Gaudreau is a seven-time All-Star who would certainly fit in among the league’s top players, and he’s started to play at a Johnny Hockey level after a slow start production-wise. Zach Werenski has been to the All-Star Game twice and is one of the top scoring defensemen in the league, so he’d be a fair choice, and heck, you could make a case that Fantilli should be there as well.
But as the season goes on ... doesn’t it seem like Kirill Marchenko would be a perfect choice?
It’s hard to see a downside to the potential of sending Marchenko to Toronto, other than perhaps ruining any vacation plans he had. Marchenko has been on fire of late, scoring six times in the last eight games to tie Jenner for the team’s goal-scoring lead with 13. As the season has gone on, he’s become a legit high-level power forward at the NHL level, improving his all-around game to go with the skill and creativity that made him one of the top rookie scorers in the league last year.
And then there’s the personality aspect of it. Marchenko is a walking smile, a beacon of light on a daily basis in the CBJ locker room. It’s not hard to imagine the hockey world falling for his personality were he to go to Toronto, and Marchenko’s mischievous side – from his propensity to jumping into scrums to interview players to his constant chatter on the ice and in the locker room – would play well at an event designed to grow the game.
“He’s so skilled, and he’s a great human, great person, great teammate,” Gaudreau said after Marchenko’s hat trick Tuesday in Buffalo. “And it’s fun to watch him play well, score goals. It’s fun to see him happy because he gets the guys excited and he brings a good mood and attitude toward the locker room.”
Doesn’t that sound like someone who would represent the Blue Jackets well for All-Star Weekend? Having been there, as NHL media members converge on the game, they're looking for someone to break out of the crowd and entertain; a natural showman on the ice and in the press room, Marchenko would be a breakout star.
The Blue Jackets have a few deserving options, but it’s hard not to think about just how fun it would be to see Marchenko in Toronto.
Merry Christmas to All
We’re just three days from the Christmas holiday, and we’ll have a feature here on the website in the coming days on the different ways CBJ players celebrate. But in the meantime, we wanted to wish everyone in the 5th Line a happy, healthy and fun holiday season!
Thank you, as always, for reading, and we’re looking forward to having even more fun in 2024.
