The Vancouver Canucks haven’t had much to feel good about during their ten-game losing streak, but one of their most intriguing bright spots is showing up far from the NHL.
Anthony Romani is making a loud case for more attention at Michigan State University, where the 21-year-old right winger has opened the season with five goals and eight points in five games. That scoring pace stands out even in a locker room loaded with NHL-drafted talent, and Romani - a 2024 sixth-round pick by Vancouver - is outpacing them all.
Michigan State’s roster includes 16 other NHL-drafted prospects, among them first-round picks for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Utah Mammoth, Seattle Kraken, Chicago Blackhawks, and San Jose Sharks, plus two first-round picks apiece for the Nashville Predators and Calgary Flames. Romani is still the one driving the offense.
That’s a long way from where he was in his draft year. Romani posted 23 goals and 43 points then, solid numbers but not enough to draw much notice, especially for a player whose skating still lagged behind the rest of his game.
He went undrafted. Then everything changed.
In his second year of eligibility, he exploded for an OHL-leading 58 goals and 11 points in 66 games. The Canucks landed him with the 162nd-overall pick, and suddenly a player who had looked like a long shot started to look like a real bet. Injuries slowed him the following season, but he still flashed his ability in the playoffs, finishing with 12 goals and 24 points in 16 games.
Romani could have gone to the AHL, but he chose college because he wanted more time to get stronger and faster. That decision has paid off. He entered Michigan State as a smart, skilled forward with a strong shot and a high hockey IQ, but the key question was whether he could add enough explosiveness to win battles and create space against better competition.
So far, the answer has been yes.
“He has added the foot speed,” said Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale. “You can play fast with your brain, but you have to also do it with your feet. He’s taken a huge step.
“If you look at where he’s come from when he got here a year ago to now or even that second half of his freshman year, he has worked on the ice to get better at it, and he has worked in the weight room. And he comes up with more pucks - he got a little more heavy on his stick and competitive.”
Michigan State associate coach Jared DeMichiel was just as upbeat about what Romani brings when the puck is on his stick. “We always felt he would be a catalyst offensively - ability to make a play, ability to finish,” DeMichiel said to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler.
“He doesn’t need much; he’s got a heavy shot [and] sneaky-good release. He was a good two-way forward that had some pretty deadly offensive instincts.”
Those instincts are showing up in different ways already. Romani’s first goal of the season came when he jumped on a puck that bounced behind the defense, then finished the play with a clean deke to the forehand. He later added his first power-play goal of the year with a one-timer from Chase Reid, then scored shorthanded by blowing past a defenseman on the penalty kill.
His scoring hasn’t been limited to one look. He has also shown some creativity on a 2-on-1, faking the backhand pass before roofing the puck short side when the goalie bit on the pass option. More recently, he scored the game-winner on a delayed penalty with a shot from distance, giving him his team-leading fifth goal of the season.
Even before the regular season, there were signs this could be coming. Romani scored twice in Michigan State’s lone preseason game against Boston College, once by crashing the net for a rebound and once by ripping a low shot off the post and in off the rush. That pushed him to seven goals in six games overall.
For the Canucks, that’s the real appeal. Romani doesn’t profile as a one-dimensional scorer, and he’s not relying on just one scoring lane to pile up numbers.
The bigger development is the skating: the extra gear, the improved pace, the work rate away from the puck. If that continues, his ceiling looks a lot different than it did when he was still viewed as a player whose game might stop short of the NHL.
For a Vancouver organization trying to build forward, that matters. Late-round picks don’t often become real answers. Romani is giving the Canucks a reason to believe this one might.
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