CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Luca Fantilli received a call while he was in Nashville, Tenn. celebrating with his younger brother, Adam Fantilli, who had just gone third overall to the Blue Jackets in the NHL Draft.
It was his agent.
He stepped away to answer and received the news that the Penguins wanted him to attend their development camp. Although he was "jacked" for the opportunity, he suddenly faced quite the logistical challenge.
Penguins development camp was set to begin bright and early on Saturday, July 1, which wasn't even two full days out from the moment he received the invite. All of his gear was back home in Toronto.
That Friday, the day after the draft concluded, Luca Fantilli flew home, gathered his gear and, within several hours, hit the road to make his way to Pittsburgh for camp. He made it into town at 1 a.m., which wasn't nearly enough time to get a full night of night of sleep before he had to report in the morning.
His arrival time wasn't ideal, but it wouldn't have mattered if he'd arrived any sooner. He wasn't going to get much sleep on the cusp of attending an NHL camp.
"What an experience," Fantilli said of the three-day development camp after it came to an end. "I just tried to come in and kind of take in everything I can and learn from these guys that are in this organization. It’s a first-class organization with a lot of talent, so I was really grateful to come in and have this opportunity."
Fantilli, turning 21 in December, is a left-shot defenseman checking in at 6-feet and 183 pounds. He views himself as someone who can do a little bit of everything.
"I think I’m a defenseman that can skate really well and has really high hockey IQ, can move the puck really well, make a good first pass," he said. "Do whatever the team needs me to do. Lock it down defensively, but also skate the puck and create some offense."
That lines right up with how his brother assessed his play in a feature for NHL.com last October.
"Luca is a very smart, underrated defenseman," Adam Fantilli said. "I feel he's smaller in terms of weight, and probably needs to put on a little bit more and get stronger, but he has a very good hockey brain. He's a great skater and he's offensive when he can be and has a really good stick, defensively."
It was hard to get a read on Luca's game through the first two days of development camp, but his skating really shined during the 3-on-3 tournament on the last day. The quiet steadiness with which his game is described was evident.
Luca spent the 2019-20 season playing for Kimball Union Academy, a prep school in New Hampshire, and popped off for 13 goals and 29 assists in 35 games. He outproduced his brother, a forward, albeit in more games and with a couple years of age on him.
Amidst that strong showing, he committed to play at the University of Michigan, where his brother later committed, as well.
During the two seasons in between making the jump to college hockey, both Fantilli brothers played for the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League. Luca's production was unspectacular (36 points in 112 games), but he wasn't out there to be some gargantuan producer. In his second season with the Steel (2021-22), he was one of two team captains.
While Adam stole the spotlight and solidified himself as a top prospect in the 2023 draft during their first season at Michigan in 2022-23, Luca struggled through the early parts of the season, often playing on the bottom defense pairing.
He did start to gain some traction as the season progressed. Part of that can be attributed to becoming more familiar with the intensity of the college game, and part of that can be attributed to the evolving powerhouse that is the University of Michigan, led by head coach Brandon Naurato.
"Brandon Naurato set up such an amazing thing there at Michigan," Luca said. "He has an open-door policy. You feel comfortable talking to him, asking questions, going through video, anything you want. Really makes you comfortable and not too scared to talk to our coaching staff. Their systems and everything all kind of make us connect really well on the ice. I think that was the biggest thing for our team this year."
While Adam figures to start next season in the NHL with the Blue Jackets, Luca will be headed back to Michigan for another season. It will be the first time the brothers haven't played on the same team since 2018-19.
"Me and Adam are best buddies," Luca said. "Ever since we were little, we’ve been trying to make each other better. Everything’s always a competition. If it’s running up the driveway or playing mini sticks in the basement, or out on the ice, we’re always competing with each other. He’s an unbelievable talent, so for me, getting to go against him in practice every day in the summers and just working with him is unbelievable. I think it’s made me a way better hockey player, and hopefully it’s made him a better one, too, going against me."
MICHIGAN ATHLETICS
Adam Fantilli and Luca Fantilli.
It can be difficult for someone like Luca, who never was drafted by an NHL team, to garner (positive) attention from coaches and management during development camp as an invite. That said, he was able to make enough of a mark on the Penguins in a short amount of time for them to continue keeping tabs on him throughout next season.
"It was good to have him here," Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos said. "He’s a good kid. I thought he worked really hard, and [he was] definitely noticeable out there. Another player we’ll track throughout the season and see where it goes."
