Columbus Blue Jackets’ Adam Fantilli to miss game vs. Blues due to skate cut to leg

Fantilli, 19, suffered the injury partway through the second period of Sunday’s game against the Seattle Kraken after a hit on Jared McCann caused the Kraken center’s skate blade to connect with Fantilli’s leg. Fantilli immediately left the game, and wasn’t putting any weight on his left leg as he went to the dressing room.

Along with missing Tuesday’s game, Fantilli will also get a further evaluation on the injury when the team returns to Columbus later this week.

Fantilli left the game with just the one hit that resulted in his injury in 7:30 of ice time as the Blue Jackets went on to lose the game 4-2.

Fantilli has had a solid rookie season despite the fact that the Blue Jackets have been mismanaging a good portion of their young players. He currently has 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points in 49 games this year, which is fourth in scoring among rookies this season.

The lack of consistent ice time has hid the fact that Fantilli has actually been a solid goal-scorer this season. His 0.98 5v5 goals per 60 minutes is tied for 43rd in the league among forwards with at least 600 minutes of 5v5 ice time, and second among rookies in that group after Marco Rossi.

Fantilli was the Blue Jackets third-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft out of the University of Michigan, and he cracked the Blue Jackets lineup right away this season.

Fantilli is currently in the first year of his three-year, entry-level contract, which has a $950,000 cap hit with the potential for an additional $3.2 million in performance bonuses each season.

The Blue Jackets will look to snap a stretch of four losses in five games when they visit the Blues in St. Louis on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. EST. They currently sit in last place in the Metropolitan Division with a 15-24-10 record, which is also the fifth-worst record in the league.