Three years ago, Anthony Romani was passed up in the 2023 NHL Draft. Two years ago, after getting picked with the 162nd pick of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, he broke his clavicle just six games into his final season of junior hockey.In between, he led the OHL in goals (58), finished second in points (111), was a CHL Second All-Star and earned an invite to Canada’s World Junior Summer Showcase as an 18-year-old.Now 21, he’s entering his sophomore year at Michigan State, and they think the Canucks might really have something in him.Last season, as a freshman in college, he registered 14 goals and 28 points in 37 games, finishing fifth on the Spartans in points and fourth in goals.Assistant coach Mike Townes was the first of Michigan State’s staff to get eyes on him with North Bay and Barrie the year prior once he returned from his broken clavicle. He played just 35 regular-season games and registered just 35 points but led the Colts in scoring with 12 goals and 24 points in 16 postseason games, including a point in all 16. The clavicle wasn’t the only major injury he dealt with, either. During that playoff run, he also played through a “really bad high-ankle sprain” that turned his first six weeks of offseason training into rehab.After Townes, Michigan State’s associate coach Jared DeMichiel and head coach Adam Nightingale watched him. All three thought the 6-foot-1, 195-pound right-shot winger, even when he was unable to repeat his 58-goal, 111-point season due to the injuries, was a heady, smart player with natural offensive instincts.“We always felt he would be a catalyst offensively — ability to make a play, ability to finish,” DeMichiel said. “He doesn’t need much; he’s got a heavy shot (and) sneaky-good release. He was a good two-way forward that had some pretty deadly offensive instincts.”Once they got their hands on him, they quickly realized he was more than just an opportunistic scorer, too. Not only could he score on the flank on the power play, but he penalty killed by the end of the year and all of his teammates wanted to play with him at five-on-five.At season’s end, they also felt he was even a little snakebitten, pointing to broken sticks, posts, crossbars and offside goals called back in making the case that he should’ve had “a few more.”The first time Romani showed up to skate with Josh Wrobel, a skills and shooting coach, it was the summer of 2022. He’d just finished his rookie season — a 14-point campaign — in the OHL.