Adam Dennis has a very, very tough decision to make on Friday night.
The young Battalion GM has the responsibility of choosing the first overall pick in the Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection which takes place online this weekend.
Adam Fantilli, the clear cut top player available for the draft, has committed to play next season with the USHL's Chicago Steel alongside his brother Luca.
Sources told BayToday that the Battalion brass, led by Dennis, put together a very impressive presentation to the Fantilli family about coming to North Bay this fall.
However, the Battalion won't acknowledge who they will take with that pick.
Fantilli played this past season at Kimball Union U.S. prep school in New Hampshire with his brother Luca. In 25 games this season, the Toronto native had 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points.
According to The Hockey News, the Fantilli family has already told the Battalion that Adam is not playing draft games, but he will not report to North Bay this fall.
For those in the North, that may bring back memories from the early 1990s where another generational type player named Eric Lindros refused to report to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds who chose him first overall in the 1989 OHL Priority Selection.
But the Fantilli's insist this decision is not being made to force anyone's hand.
“We’ve said from the beginning we weren’t going to do any of those shenanigans,” Adam’s father Guiliano told the Hockey News.
“That’s not who we are at all.”
But the dilemma for the Battalion is that Fantilli has a late birthday, which still gives him three years of junior eligibility before he can be eligible for the NHL Entry Draft.
And the Fantilli's admitted their recent decision does not close the door on the Battalion potentially for the fall of 2021 potentially giving him two years still with the Battalion.
That's because unlike his brother Luca, who is a University of Michigan commit, Adam still does not know if he wants to play NCAA or OHL hockey.
“He’ll take this year to develop in Chicago and play with his brother," Guiliano said.
"North Bay had an awesome presentation, but it just wasn’t the right fit for (2020-21). It doesn’t mean it won’t be next year. We told them, ‘We’re not going to play for anybody else. It’s not a North Bay thing. It’s just we’re not ready right now.’”
So if it's not Fantilli, the consensus first pick would be RH shot 5'8", 175-pound offensive defenceman Ty Nelson.
Nelson was a star defenceman for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and played for U15 Team Canada at the Junior Olympics in Switzerland last January.
Prospect Pipeline says "Nelson has become a premier two-way player capable of dominating his opposition at both ends of the ice."
