Blue Jackets Contract Standoff Takes Major Turn With Adam Fantilli
Fantilli Follows Through On Missing Camp
The Athletic's Aaron Portzline reported there wasn't much hope for an 11th-hour deal heading into Wednesday, and that's exactly how it played out.
According to Pat Brisson, Fantilli's agent, his client will not participate in camp without a signed contract, a firm stance that's held even as the team's first on-ice sessions got underway Thursday. Pierre LeBrun reported the two sides remain somewhere between $2 million and $3 million apart on average annual value, with offers and counteroffers exchanged throughout the summer but no real movement recently.
#CBJ coach Rick Bowness said center Adam Fantilli called him last night, knowing he wasn’t going to be signed in time for camp.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) September 16, 2026
Bowness said it was clear that Fantilli is “disappointed” to be away from the club.
It's the culmination of a slow-building standoff. Fantilli skipped the team's annual pre-camp golf outing earlier this month, a sign at the time that things weren't close, and Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell has spent weeks publicly maintaining confidence even as the calendar worked against him.
"We're going to send something probably in the next 24 hours back to him just to see. We want to keep this thing moving," Waddell said, describing the talks as amicable despite the lack of progress. "I know Adam wants to be here. I'm not going to start worrying about it until we don't have a deal done."
Gauthier Deal Raises The Bar
The math behind the gap isn't complicated once you look at what Fantilli's own draft class has been paid.
He was the third overall pick in 2023, one spot behind Anaheim's Leo Carlsson and two behind Chicago's Connor Bedard, and both of those players have already signed among the richest contracts in the league, Bedard at $15 million annually and Carlsson at an even $18 million after the Flyers' offer sheet reset the entire market.
Elliotte Friedman (32 Thoughts) on #CBJ/Fantilli negotiations: Adam Fantilli’s camp has “had a target in mind for some time, and they just haven’t really budged from it... to this point, Columbus is not there.”
— The CBJ Center (@CBJcenter) September 18, 2026
Adds that this target likely came after Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet.
The newest data point arrived just days ago, when the Ducks locked up Cutter Gauthier, the No. 5 pick from that same 2023 draft, to a six-year extension worth $13.5 million annually.
Waddell acknowledged directly that the Carlsson offer sheet changed his own math. "I think the offer sheet definitely changed the marketplace a little bit, and we've recognized that," he said.
Fantilli's production supports a strong number regardless of the comparables. He's posted 140 points, 67 goals and 73 assists, across 213 career games, and has played all 82 games in each of the past two seasons as Columbus' emerging No. 1 center, numbers nearly identical to Carlsson's own career pace at the same stage.
Waddell says he remains confident a deal gets done, even if it takes a bit longer than either side wanted.
