2025 Ottawa Senators Report Cards: Michael Amadio

Staff Grade: B, Reader Grade: B

Michael Amadio didn't sign for a huge deal with the Ottawa Senators in the off-season, but a 3-year contract with a cap hit of $2.6M is bigger than most free agent signings for the Senators, so it was a bit of a surprise and a big deal to see him come back to Ottawa. People knew he was a bottom-six player, but there were still expectations for him to be a solid depth player based on his contract and also his three good seasons in Vegas, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2023. So when he began the season with zero points in eight games and just two goals and two assists in 23 games, fans were questioning Steve Staios' judgement on bringing him in.

While $2.6M isn't a large number, it's big enough that you need to be producing a little bit to justify more than a typical depth player. After a slow start, Amadio then picked it up offensively by notching 23 points in his final 49 games, which is a 38-point pace. Even his total season stats were right in line with his last few years in Vegas, as he ended the season with 27 points for the third straight season. He missed 10 games due to injury as well, as he was on pace for 31 if he was fully healthy.

His 11 goals are certainly good enough for a 3rd liner, plus they always seemed to come in big moments. Six of them came in March when the Senators were battling for their playoff lives, plus three of them took the lead at the time, and three of them tied the game. He seemed to rise to the occasion, which makes sense as someone who has won a Cup before. Even during the playoffs, he was always a steady presence whenever chaos was ensuing, which is exactly what an inexperienced team needed.

Even when Amadio wasn't putting up points, he was easily one of Ottawa's best two-way players, and the stats back that up. Going by Evolving Hockey's "Goals Above Replacement" (GAR) metrics, Amadio had the third-best defensive value (+2.3) amongst Senators forwards, behind just Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle, and was sixth overall on the team. That combines his positive play at 5v5 and the penalty kill, as Giroux is the only current Senator forward with a better impact on the PK. In fact, Amadio didn't have any negative impacts offensively or defensively according to these metrics, which have him as the fifth most valuable player on the team:

I don't know if I'd necessarily go that far, but he was absolutely a net positive and a key player on the third line. That was evident when the line of Amadio, Ridly Greig, and Shane Pinto played excellently down the stretch, and fans (and probably Travis Green, too) were clamouring to keep them together. The straw that stirs the drink there? Michael Amadio.

Now, Amadio is never going to be a top-six stud or someone that you can rely on all the time. He's limited in what he can do, and there's a problem if he's on your second line. But as someone who can play anywhere in your bottom-six, you have to love what he brings. Not only can he score 10-15 goals and 25-30 points, but he also limits chances against, is hard on the puck, wins an incredible amount of puck battles, and rarely makes obvious mistakes. There were so many times when I was convinced Amadio was about to lose the puck or lose a battle, and then he would come out of the corner with possession. Seeing a player like that in the bottom-six after years of dreadful players is a nice change of pace.

I'm a little higher on Amadio amongst the staff as I gave him an A- due to his overall metrics looking great, but I get why a B was the average pick for the staff and readers. As I said, he will go on stretches without scoring for a while and is not a top scorer. Even with that, a B is a good grade, and he had a successful first season in Ottawa. That in itself is a massive victory for the Senators, considering their history of depth signings over the past 15 years, so I hope Amadio is able to be his consistent 27-point self next season as well.