Adam Fantilli is still without a contract for the 2026-27 season, but the Blue Jackets don’t sound like a team bracing for a long standoff.
Columbus opens training camp on September 16, which gives general manager Don Waddell just over two weeks to get a deal across the finish line with one of his most important young players. Waddell said the sides are still talking and made it clear he expects this to get done soon.
“We’re in communication. There’s a little difference of opinion right now, which is normal, and I’m confident that we’ll have him done before training camp.”
The real question now is what Fantilli’s next contract should look like. His 2023 draft classmates have already reset the market in a big way. Connor Bedard, the first overall pick, landed a deal worth $15MM per season, while Leo Carlsson, taken second, briefly became the league’s highest-paid player on an $18MM annual contract.
Fantilli went third in that draft, but his early production stacks up well against both. He has 140 points in 213 games, compared with Carlsson’s 141 in 201 games and Bedard’s 203 in 219 games.
That kind of resume could push talks into the $13MM or $14MM range. But there’s a catch: Fantilli still hasn’t settled into a true star role in Columbus’ offense, which makes this negotiation a little less straightforward than the draft pedigree alone would suggest.
Money is part of the squeeze, too. The Blue Jackets have just $12.645MM in cap space, according to PuckPedia, and even that number could shift if they place Isac Lundeström on long-term injured reserve after his July surgery for an achilles tendon injury. Columbus could also create more breathing room by moving backup goalie Elvis Merzlikins, who is set to make $5.4MM next season, to IR.
Even with those options, the Blue Jackets may only be able to stretch to about $12.5MM per season before the math stops working.
So the gap is there, but it doesn’t look like a deal-breaker. Fantilli didn’t explode right out of his entry-level contract, but he has still put together 54 points and 59 points over the last two seasons, and he’s played all 164 games in that span. There’s also a clear ceiling ahead: 30 goals and 60 points as soon as next season is on the table.
If and when the contract gets done, Fantilli is expected to sit on Columbus’ top line, where he’d be in position to drive offense alongside Kirill Marchenko and new addition Valeri Nichushkin for a full season. That kind of role, paired with his upside, is what could make him the Blue Jackets’ highest-paid player once the numbers finally line up.
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The real question is not whether Columbus can fit Fantilli in, but how the sides settle the structure of the contract. Negotiations have centered on the term and salary, with the Blue Jackets looking to lock in as much long-term commitment as possible while the rest of the details get sorted out. For a player the organization sees as part of its core, it is the kind of delay that matters mostly because it has not yet become one. [Read more 🡒]