| Rank | Player | DOB | Nationality | Draft Year/Position | Current League | 2014 Rank |
| 23 | Michael Amadio | 5/13/1996 | CAN | 2014/90th overall (3rd round) | OHL (North Bay Battalion) | Not Ranked |
The Kings selected Michael Amadio with the 90th overall pick of the 2014 draft. Jewels from the Crown was not sufficiently impressed with the selection to give Amadio a spot in the top 25 under 25 that year. While there were things to like about Amadio, a 6’1″ center known for a defensively responsible game, his offense was clearly limited. His 38 points in 64 OHL games testified to that. It’s hard to get too excited about prospects with minimal offensive upside, and for good reason. CHL points per game strongly correlates with future NHL success, and players who barely score half a point a game in their CHL draft year very rarely become impact NHLers.
But Amadio never saw himself as lacking in offensive talent. When asked to describe his style of play at the draft, Amadio said:
I think I’d say that I’m an offensive guy. I’m responsible in my own end, but I can put up numbers when the team needs [me] to. I think I’d be a top-six forward.
Huh. Not exactly what you’d expect him to say. And the even weirder thing is that Amadio went out there and backed it up this year. He had 71 points in 68 OHL games, then 15 more in 15 playoff games. That’s better! Most prospects score more in their draft+1 years, of course, but a 76% bump in scoring is pretty dramatic. It’s still not an elite level of offense, far from it, but it’s much more promising.
Scouts have a lot of praise for Amadio’s defense. Most reports consider his positional play the strongest part of his game, and he has decent size and skating ability to complement that. If he can continue to develop his scoring ability, he could perhaps be an NHL third-line center one day. That’s a long ways away. In the nearer term, he’ll go back to North Bay for a fourth OHL season, and the Jewels from the Crown Top 25 Under 25 Rankings Committee will be watching with interest.
As a last note, Amadio’s interviewing skills are clearly well polished. Look at him deftly handle this Jon Rosen curveball:
Amadio, on any aspects of his game he’d like to improve:
Everything I need to improve on, obviously.
Can’t argue with that. Let’s hope he continues to improve everything he needs to improve in the years ahead.