Ottawa Senators Sign Familiar Face Michael Amadio to 3-Year Deal

If you completely wiped the 2020-21 covid season from your memory, I don't blame you. You might have forgotten this, but Michael Amadio played five games (scoring 1 assist) for the Ottawa Senators that season as he was acquired from Los Angeles in a 1-for-1 Christian Wolanin. He left in the off-season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, was quickly claimed on waivers by the Vegas Golden Knights, and then for three seasons he turned into an analytical darling in their bottom-6.

After three consecutive impressive seasons, Amadio has cashed in and joined the Senators once more, signing a 3-year contract with an AAV of $2.6M:

It might seem a bit rich at first, especially if you only remember him from his five games in his first stint in Ottawa. However, he completely transformed himself after arriving in Vegas. He averaged 31 points per 82 games in his three seasons there, and had 27 points in each of the last two seasons, with a career-high 16 goals in 2022-23. He even had 10 points in 16 playoff games when the Knights won the Stanley Cup, so he brings some excellent experience with him (and is the second Cup winner they've added today). In each of the past three seasons with the Golden Knights, Amadio has been an above-average finisher, shooting at 17.7%, 16.2%, and 12.0% respectively. With decent playmakers such as Ridly Greig and Mathieu Joseph, Amadio could increase his production even further with a bigger workload than the 12-13 minutes per game he's seen in Vegas. That's solid production for the bottom-six, but what's more impressive are his numbers under the hood:

He is exactly the type of player they have desperately needed in a bottom-six that lacks two-way ability. Someone who can chip in offensively but he limits chances against and doesn't hurt them in key moments. It would've been nice if they were able to get him for a little bit less money based on how close they are to the cap, but if he's as good as he was in Vegas, he'll definitely be worth this contract. The right-hand shot can play any position at forward, although he'll most likely play on the 3rd line right wing spot. He has some versatility and can play elsewhere though, depending on what the rest of the roster ends up looking like.

The Senators currently have $4.4M in cap space with 10 forwards and 6 defencemen under contract, and have to sign Shane Pinto and one more fourth liner (or call somebody up), so it looks like they'll have to move Mathieu Joseph, otherwise I'm not sure how they'll be able to sign Pinto, barring a 1-year bridge deal. Having that happen two summers in a row is not ideal, and hopefully a deal there can get done sooner than later. This is what happens when you predecessor leaves you with a beehive of a roster.