Toronto Maple Leafs: Michael Amadio Makes the Cut

The Toronto Maple Leafs have made their final cuts as they are set to begin the 2021-22 NHL regular season.

The last player to be cut from the team was centre, Adam Brooks, who was swiftly swept away by the rival Montreal Canadiens.  Brooks may even end up playing his first game as a Canadien against the Toronto Maple Leafs as the two teams are set to tango during the first game of the season for both teams on October 13th.

The decision to place Adam Brooks on waivers comes with slight controversy as underdog, Michael Amadio remains with the team.  The chances of either Amadio or Brooks making the team out of camp were slim, but injuries to Auston Matthews and Ilya Mikheyev made room for one more player.

Adam Brooks was well liked by Toronto Maple Leafs fans, and the choice to go with a newcomer like Amadio instead may leave some feeling stricken.  However, it seems that Michael Amadio was selected out of the two for his greater experience at the NHL level and his versatility.

Though both players are close in age (Brooks is seven days older), Michael Amadio has 173 games of NHL experience while Brooks only has 18.  Amadio also has superior AHL stats to Brooks as Amadio has been a point per game player in the AHL since the 2017-18 season.

Despite his great AHL numbers, Amadio hasn’t been able to put up great numbers in the NHL with a limited role on a bad LA Kings team.  He spent a lot of time playing with Jason Spezza in the preseason and the two may be able to generate some much need secondary scoring for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto Maple Leafs 2021-22 Opening Night Roster

Ritchie – Tavares – Marner (Hopefully)
Bunting – Kerfoot – Nylander
Engvall – Kampf – Kase
Simmonds – Amadio – Spezza

Rielly – Brodie
Muzzin – Holl
Sandin – Dermott
Liljegren

Campbell
Mrazek

Injured: Matthews, Mikheyev, and potentially, after getting hurt in practice this morning, Mitch Marner.

Michael Amadio’s time with the Toronto Maple Leafs may be short lived once Auston Matthews returns to the lineup unless the team elects to assign Timothy Liljegren or another player to the Marlies at that time.  Amadio (or anyone else besides Liljegren or Sandin) would have to clear waivers before AHL designation, and since Brooks was claimed, there’s a good chance another Maple Leaf would get claimed as well.