Jerry D'Amigo's immediate impact with the OHL's Rangers has earned him comparisons to Taylor Hall.
It's not often Jerry D'Amigo draws comparisons to Taylor Hall.
Then again, until recently there was very little the two had in common. That all changed on Feb. 3 when the Toronto Maple Leafs reassigned the American forward to the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers. Now that D'Amigo is back in Hall's old stomping grounds in the OHL, his new head coach finds it a fitting comparison.
"He's a version, to me, of a Taylor Hall-type player," Kitchener Rangers head coach and general manager Steve Spott said. "He can skate, he's strong on the puck, he can kill penalties -- and he's a threat when he kills penalties -- and he's on your first unit power-play.
"He's that type of an impact player for us."
And yet, he had always been an absentee impact player for the Rangers. Kitchener took a flyer on D'Amigo in the 12th round of the OHL's priority selection four years ago hoping he would one day become their impact player.
D'Amigo, however, opted not to follow in the footsteps of his former United States National Team Development Program teammate, Jeremy Morin, who joined Kitchener a year ago. Instead, D'Amigo retained his college commitment to RPI with intentions of going pro this season.
Five goals and 14 points in 41 American Hockey League games this season wasn't enough to keep him there, which then gave the Rangers the biggest post-trade deadline acquisition of all junior teams.
Now the Rangers have the potent sniper it sorely lacked when the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks seemingly spoiled the party by holding onto Jeff Skinner and Morin, respectively.
"I liked our team," Spott said. "I thought we were a good, solid hockey club, but when you add a world class player like Jerry -- a guy with his experience and the level that he's coming from -- he just makes everybody better around him."
By all accounts, D'Amigo hasn't sulked at the notion that being sent to junior is a demotion of sorts. He is already one point shy of equaling his totals from the AHL in just seven OHL games.
"He's come in with a real good attitude," said Spott, who will meet with D'Amigo's parents this weekend for the first time since their son joined the team. "I think obviously everyone wants to stay in professional hockey, but he realizes he has to find the offensive touch back in his game."
The 19-year old -- whose 20th birthday is on Saturday -- tried putting a positive spin on it.
"Like (Toronto Maple Leafs general manager) Brian Burke said, it's a positive outlook," D'Amigo offered. "I'm doing this for my development, trying to make the big club next year."
D'Amigo is certainly taking the business approach. Among those decisions was closing his Twitter account upon arriving in Kitchener.
"I'm off that," he said. "It's just one of those things where I have to focus on what I have to do and what I came here to do."
Kitchener captain Gabriel Landeskog said the addition gave the team a spark in the dressing room. The line of Landeskog, D'Amigo and Michael Catenacci brings a little bit of everything, but perhaps most notably, instant chemistry.
"We were in a little bit of a rough stretch there then Jerry came in and added a lot to our hockey club," Landeskog said. "He can play in every situation. He's really helpful to our hockey club and he creates a lot on the ice."
The prevailing theory amongst those within the Western Conference is that it is open for the taking this season. Not one team asserted itself as a dominant threat that is head and shoulders above the rest of the pack.
The addition of D'Amigo may give the Rangers the added ammunition necessary to make yet another title run this season.
"There's going to be four pretty upset coaches and managers after that first round because any one of the eight teams that makes the playoffs, in my mind this year, could ultimately play (at the MasterCard Memorial Cup) in Mississauga," Spott said. "It's a dog fight. It's going to be just a brutal conference playoffs, but that's what makes the Western Conference the best conference in junior hockey."
D'Amigo could soon find himself playing for the same trophy Hall captured twice as a member of the Windsor Spitfires.
"We have a chance here and it's a good thing," D'Amigo said. "Memorial Cup is something that guys always dream of and this is my first year trying to go for it."
A MasterCard Memorial Cup would go a long way in cementing those Hall comparisons.
