Michigan’s Adam Fantilli wins the 2023 Hobey Baker Award

Michigan’s superstar freshman Adam Fantilli was awarded the 2023 Hobey Baker Award. The award is essentially the Heisman Trophy on ice, presented annually to the top player in college hockey.

A pair of Minnesota forwards — Logan Cooley and Matthew Knies — joined Fantilli as finalists for the prestigious award, and reaffirmed the Big Ten’s dominance in the world of college hockey.

Fantilli was sensational this season, leading the nation with 65 points (1.83 average) and tying for the lead in goals (30) and finishing fifth in assists (35). The 18-year-old freshman was named first-team All-American, Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year, Big Ten Freshman of the Year (Michigan’s third consecutive), first-team All-Big Ten, and set conference tournament records for goals (7) and points (10) in a single tournament.

The Michigan Wolverines were a team inundated with youth and were largely propelled to the heights they reached this season because of Fantilli. The native Canadian led the team in +/- with a staggering +31, power play goals with 10 (25% of all power play goals scored by the Wolverines this season), and game-winning goals with four.

Fantilli becomes only the third Wolverine to win the Hobey Baker Award. Michigan’s previous two winners were Brendan Morrison in 1997 and Kevin Porter in 2008. He is widely expected to be the second overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft and to forgo his remaining eligibility in Ann Arbor.