Arace: Will Adam Fantilli rank above these best centers in Columbus Blue Jackets history?
The Blue Jackets selected Michigan center Adam Fantilli with the No. 3 pick in the NHL draft on June 28 and, at the local draft party at an Easton skee-ball bar, fans exploded with a rapturous joy that was once unimaginable. They felt like Jackets finally won something.
The three certainties of life in Columbus are death, taxes and Gilbert Brule. The Jackets have never had a bona fide, No. 1 center. True, other NHL teams go through spells without a bona fide No. 1 center, the most prized commodity in hockey. But the Jackets have made it a feature of their existence, which is one reason why they’ve won exactly one playoff series in 22 seasons.
Given that drafting and projecting 18-year-olds is an inexact science, nobody can be sure that Fantilli will turn out to be a perennial All-Star. Still, given all that we know about him, it’s OK to indulge in the possibility. He signed a contract, which is to say that Jackets’ brass think he is NHL-ready. He was introduced to a sellout Crew crowd at Lower.com Field and received a standing ovation. Then, he participated in the annual development camp, and he tore it up. This young man has a chance to be special. Let us hope that he seizes on this chance, and that Mike Babcock doesn’t treat him like Mitch Marner.
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It’s not a stretch to say that, at the very least, Fantilli will be an upgrade on every center who has taken the ice for the Blue Jackets. He is not Sergei Fedorov, a Hall of Famer who played 185 games in Columbus when he was past his prime and was tasked with making Nikolay Zherdev care about hockey. Fedorov is the greatest player to wear a Union Blue sweater and, with apologies to Rick Nash and Artemi Panarin, it’s not even close. But Feds was 36 years old when he got here and 38 when he departed, in 2008. He was a Red Wing.
Boone Jenner might just be the top-line center in 2023-24, if only to allow Fantilli to acclimate to playing against the best players in the world. Jenner is an all-time great Blue Jacket – he’s about to pass Nash in games played, he’s third in goals scored behind Nash and Cam Atkinson and he’s fourth in points behind Nash, Atkinson and Nick Foligno. Yet, as good as Jenner is in the faceoff circle, he has played a ton on the wing during his 10 seasons of sweaty work at Nationwide Arena.
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Underrated R.J. Umberger is another sometimes-center who put up appreciable numbers in service to Columbus. He is sixth on the all-time list for adjusted points (285) behind Nash, Atkinson, Foligno, Jenner and David Vyborny. But he played a lot of wing, especially on the backside of his six-year stint in Columbus.
When it comes to pure centers with the talent and skill to play on the top line, and to handle the defensive responsibilities incumbent in matching up with the opponents’ best players, well, the Jackets have never had anyone like Fedorov, not even when they had Fedorov. That said, Manny Malhotra, a truly overrated player, had a certain something when he played with Nash.
The Jackets have never had a superstar No. 1 center. A couple of years ago, when I voted on the Jackets’ 20th anniversary team, I stuck winger Foligno in the middle of a top line (between Nash and Atkinson) because Foligno deserved to be on the top line – and because there just wasn’t a center in the same realm. But the Jackets have had a few decent pivots.
Here are the top five, according to me:
1. Pierre-Luc Dubois
The Jackets have drafted 10 centers in the first round. Dubois, the No. 3 pick in 2016, is the best of the bunch to date. Remember the shock on the draft floor in Buffalo, when general manager Jarmo Kekalainen took Dubois over Jesse Puljujarvi? Jarmo nailed this one. Dubois’ time in Columbus was just a few seasons, but he had 159 points in 239 games with the Jackets and he was, and remains, a physical beast.
Unfortunately, something went awry with Dubois, the coach and/or the general manager. Dubois demanded a trade, shamed himself by quitting on his team on-ice and was moved to Winnipeg, where he demanded another trade. He recently signed an eight-year contract with the LA Kings worth $8.85 million annually, and maybe now he can be happy.
2. Ryan Johansen
Johansen is the first and last center to be drafted (No. 4 in 2010) by the Jackets and become an All-Star. He was as big as Dubois but not as lean or as mean. He had as much or more potential than Dubois – he had 33 goals in his third season and 71 points in his fourth, totals Dubois has never realized – but … how does one say this? … Joey lacked desire.
Johansen’s contract negotiations in Columbus were Red, White & Boom, on both sides. When he was traded straight-up for Seth Jones in 2016, Jackets fans did not cry. Like Dubois, Johansen was recently traded for the second time in his career. He’s now in Colorado.
3. Espen Knutsen
Knutsen took his last shot at the NHL with the expansion Jackets in their inaugural season on 2000-01, at the age of 28. He was a sublime playmaker, teeing up Geoff Sanderson, Vyborny and Steve Heinze. He had 42 assists and 53 points in that first season. He became the team’s first All-Star when he played for Team World vs. Team North America, which was the format for a minute. While injuries shortened his already-short career, if you were a Jackets fan at the beginning, you will never forget him. His hockey smarts approached Vyborny’s. His assists-per-game (0.43) is seventh all-time in Jackets history.
4. Andrew Cassels
We’re talking about pure centers here, and Cassels was that. He was a cerebral, two-way, 200-foot player who set up linemates in the offensive zone and tended to his business on the other end of the ice. Cassels was cursed in his prime for being a 1-B or 2-A center – not quite the stud for top-line work but capable of playing well in all situations, against all comers. Wonderful hockey IQ. He was in the final stage of a 15-year career when he posted 68 assists in 137 games for the Jackets in the early 2000s.
5. Brandon Dubinsky
Dubinsky was the prototype for a terrific third-line center on a great team. He was pressed into greater responsibility when he joined the Blue Jackets (as part of the Nash trade) in 2012. Here’s an underlying stat: Dubinsky is ninth all-time among Jackets in adjusted points, just behind Zach Werenski and Oliver Bjorkstrand and just ahead of Jones.
Dubinsky was an important Blue Jacket in an era of transition, tumult and, eventually, (some) promise. Injuries stunted his career.
Now, let’s argue about where Alexander Wennberg, Derrick Brassard and Artem Anisimov rank.
And let us wonder where Fantilli will fit on a 30th anniversary team.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Will Adam Fantilli top these centers in Columbus Blue Jackets history?
