Adam Fantilli talks potential return, but Michigan hockey will have a new look in 2023-24 with or without him
The Michigan hockey team lost to eventual national champion Quinnipiac in the Frozen Four semifinal April 6, a disappointing ending to a nice season. Despite the loss, head coach Brandon Naurato remained optimistic about the future. The Wolverines beat Minnesota for the Big Ten Tournament title (in Minneapolis, no less), and won the NCAA regional with one of the nation’s youngest teams.
RELATED: Michigan hockey: Adam Fantilli wins the Hobey Baker Award
Naurato dismissed the notion that the Wolverines were going through a Frozen Four jinx.
“It’s just one game. It’s tough,” Naurato said. “It’s a crazy stat (losing 7 of 8 semifinals), but if you look through all those games, it’s not one thing holding Michigan back from winning that game.”
The guys coming back know the expectations now, Naurato added in thanking the seniors for what they’d done for the program. There’s a good chance the Wolverines could be back in this position next year with added experience.
But the team will have a different look. goaltender Erik Portillo is gone, having signed with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, a Los Angeles Kings affiliate. This year’s backup, Noah West, was in the transfer portal but pulled out after the Portillo announcement, while senior defenseman Keaton Pehrson and senior forwards Eric Ciccolini and Nick Granowicz entered the portal after the loss.
There are rumblings that defenseman Jacob Truscott, a 2020 5th round pick of the Vancouver Canucks, will return for his senior year. He suffered a broken thumb and did not play the last 2 months of the season. Defenseman Luke Hughes, the 4th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut with the New Jersey Devils April 11.
Sophomore forward Mackie Samoskevich and frosh Adam Fantilli, meanwhile, were among the others with decisions to make. Samoskevich signed with the Charlotte Checkers, the Florida Panthers’ AHL farm team, April 11, forgoing his remaining two years of NCAA eligibility. He finished his U-M career with 30 goals and 42 assists in 79 games.
Fantilli, though, is the big one. He told NHL.com a return to Michigan is still a possibility. He’s a projected top-three pick in the 2023 NHL Drat.
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“Everything is completely up in the air right now,” Fantilli told NHL.com on Wednesday. “I don’t know what team is picking where and I don’t know where I’m going to get picked, so it’s completely up in the air.”
The NHL Draft Lottery to determine the first 16 picks in the draft will be May 8, while the draft will be held June 28-29 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Fantilli told NHL.com he was taking time off with friends for the next few weeks and would discuss his options with his family and agent when ready.
“I know there are still areas of my game I have to polish, and living on a college campus for another year helps you grow as a person, helps you grow as a man, and helps you mature,” Fantilli said. “There are absolutely positives to both sides of it, but I haven’t made a decision.”
Whoever comes back, Naurato said, the objective remains the same.
“Our goal is to win the national championship,” the Michigan coach said. “We didn’t. But … we won in a lot of ways this season.”
Just not on the ice when it mattered most.
With the talent returning, though — with or without Fantilli — and the way Naurato is recruiting, it appears they’ll get several more opportunities in the years to come.
