Mike Amadio was named the CCM/AHL player of the month in December scoring 21 points in 14 games, including 16 assists. Ranked number 10 in our pre-season ranking of Los Angeles prospects he appeared in eight games with the club in October and November. In his second season in the AHL he is posting a point a game pace with 28 points in 26 games with eight goals and 20 assists. Tom Dorsa provides a detailed look at his game below.
A note on the 20-80 scale used below. We look at five attributes (skating, shooting, puck skills, hockey IQ and physicality) for skaters and six for goalies (athleticism/quickness, compete/temperament, vision/play reading, technique/style, rebound control and puck handling). Each individual attribute is graded along the 20-80 scales, which includes half-grades. The idea is that a projection of 50 in a given attribute meant that our observer believed that the player could get to roughly NHL average at that attribute at maturity.
BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 28: Los Angeles Kings center Mike Amadio (52) during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Los Angeles Kings on October 28, 2016, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Kings defeated the Bruins 2-1 (OT). (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)
| Mike Amadio | 2014 Draft (90th - Los Angeles Kings) |
|---|---|
| Position C, Shoots R | H/W: 6-1", 195 lbs |
| Stats to date (GP-G-A-Pts-PIM) | Ontario Reign, AHL (26-8-20-28-12) |
| Los Angeles Kings, NHL (8-1-0-1-4) |
Skating: Has a good general skating ability; a very reliable skater though unimpressive. Fluid and solid at moving in all directions while keeping his momentum. Turns on a dime with great edgework. Stops and starts well, has decent two-step acceleration that assists that effort. Has displayed an ability to find an extra gear with his skating and improve his speed and agility by selection. Grade: 50.
Shot: Absolutely wicked wrist shot. Always looks to shoot at spots that are tough for the goalie to pick up, which generates a lot of fluky looking goals and dangerous rebounds. Pretty basic shooting motion and windup, but a great and accurate release. Settles pucks down well before shooting; puts the puck in the right spot on his blade prior to letting it rip. Has wonderful lift on his snapshot and slap shot, seeming more developed than other 21-year-old forwards. Grade: 55.
Skills: Killer hands that go underappreciated and underused at times. Pinpoint passes and some great, elusive moves to get around defenders allow for shot generation. Finds the open players going up the ice well. Good at finding a purpose for the puck on one-on-one carries, whether that’s chipping and chasing or just blowing past defenders, Amadio does it well. One flaw is, he does not skate with the puck much. He puts the puck out in front of him and dribbles it to pick up speed, but to succeed in the NHL, his puck-handling and assertiveness with the puck through the neutral zone must improve. Grade: 50.
Smarts: Amadio has become a key cog for the Reign’s penalty kill unit. He has displayed smarts from defensive zone vision to backchecking and play-reading that pay off well defensively. He follows plays well, keeping his head up and his stick ready to attack defensively. Skates around well in the defensive zone and does not leave himself flat-footed. Offensively, Amadio is not the most universal player in the o-zone. His game revolves mostly around his shot and how it draws players over, and if he cannot find time and space to shoot or draw defenders, he can panic under pressure. Makes up for it with his passing ability and decent vision. Grade: 50.
Physicality: Amadio plays a powerful game with the puck on his stick. He likes to carry the puck close to his body when he can, using his back and shoulders to shield the puck away from defenders; it is for this reason that he does not lose a lot of puck battles. Defensively, he puts his body in front of passing lanes and shots. I have seen him meet opposing forwards in the neutral zone with an open-ice hit. Rolls off checks well. Grade: 55.
Summary: Mike Amadio is a very talented offensive prospect with three-zone potential. He is a fine skater with an extra gear in his stride, and his greatest selling point is his nifty wrist shot. The 6-1" center is a perfect example of why good scouting later in the draft is necessary; he is not a player that makes or breaks a squad, but a difference maker nonetheless. He could be a worthy bottom-six player for a team with a bounty of forward depth like Los Angeles. After being an explosive and lethal playmaker in OHL play, Amadio has not missed a beat with the Reign. He is also a disciplined player who does not take a lot of penalties, which is extremely important in bottom-six roles. He could end up being a 30-35 point player in the NHL.
Overall Future Projection (OFP): 51.5