Good sportsmanship here from Fantilli.
Good sportsmanship here from Fantilli.
The NHL Draft has come and gone but the picks from it remain the intriguing part now. For the Anaheim Ducks, the biggest pick they had was selecting center Leo Carlsson from the Swedish Hockey League with the second overall pick. It was a bit of a surprise around the league because it was widely assumed that Anaheim would select center Adam Fantilli from the University of Michigan.
Fanitlli was as sure of a prospect as there was in the draft so when the Ducks passed on him, it was a shock. But Fantilli was a good sport about it all and even praised Carlsson on his game.
-“There are a lot of phenomenal hockey players in this draft and a lot of guys deserve to go as high as they possibly can,” Fantilli said, via Ryan S. Clark of ESPN. “Leo's a phenomenal hockey player. He's a great kid, and I wish him the absolute best. Getting to know him was awesome, in Vegas [at the Stanley Cup Final] and at the combine. It was really, really cool to meet him. So, I wish him the best and I'm pumped for him."
This is cool to see from a young player and will make the Ducks vs Columbus Blue Jackets matchups even that much more interesting. These two players will forever be linked together for the rest of their careers and they will be compared against one another.
Carlsson was a home run pick by the Ducks and he will provide them with a cornerstone franchise player for years to come. The 18-year-old has impressive skills and it was warranted to be taken second overall.
Anaheim heads into free agency and the rest of the offseason armed to make some nice moves. It's a critical offseason for this team as they try to get this franchise back to contention.