21-year-old Red Wing prospect Amadeus Lombardi is heading into his second full season of professional hockey. The 2022 fourth round draft pick was hugely productive in junior, playing for the OHL’s Flint Firebirds. Lombardi scored 102 points in just 37 games in his last season of junior, but his first year pro (spent with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins) wasn’t quite so easy. Lombardi put up five goals and 21 assists in 70 regular season games for the Griffins last season. It hasn’t been easy for the Red Wings to graduate late-round picks into the NHL (and it isn’t easy for any NHL organization to do so), but with Lombardi, what might that path look like?
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On the most recent episode of The Silky Mitten State, Connor Earegood and I discussed Lombardi’s path. Connor expressed his enthusiasm for Lombardi’s skill and puck-handling, which have defined his game since his days in Flint. I offered the qualifier that Lombardi’s style of play, which has tended to privilege attacking defenders one-on-one off the rush, is a difficult and likely unsustainable one at the NHL level.
For Lombardi, the question of becoming a full-time NHLer then becomes one of turning his obvious tools into a slightly more workmanlike role than he adopted in the OHL. Can he use his speed to become an effective penalty killer and bottom six forward, while allowing his skill to continue to pitch in a bit of offensive upside? It’s supposed to be hard for everything to come together at the NHL level, and it will be for Lombardi, but he clearly has the tools to make it all work.
You can hear a snippet of our conversation in the featured video above, then listen to the full show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts:
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