Saturday, June 13, 2015

Viper Alumni Santorelli Likely Not To Return To Predators:

Nashville Predators GM David Poile said that former Vernon Vipers forward Mike Santorelli is likely not to return to the team next season.

Santorelli in his second stint with the Preds becomes a free-agent on July 1st 2015.  Santorelli a free agent last summer signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 3rd 2014 after playing one season with his hometown Vancouver Canucks.  The Leafs traded Santorelli to Nashville on February 15th 2015.  Santorelli has now played with five different NHL teams (Nashville, Florida, Winnipeg, Vancouver & Toronto).

Santorelli was drafted by Nashville in Round 6 178th overall at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft played parts of two seasons with the Predators before being traded to the Florida Panthers on August, 5th 2010. Santorelli spent three seasons in Florida (2010-2013) before being claimed off waivers by the Winnipeg Jets on April 3rd 2013. Santorelli finished the season with the Jets before signing as a free agent July 7th 2013 with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Langley Hornets traded Santorelli to Vernon on July 2nd 2003 for an undisclosed amount of cash.  Santorelli played one season in Vernon (2003-2004) playing in 60 regular season games collected (43-goals-53-assists-96-points).

Mike Santorelli's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=11417

This is posted on the Hockey writers website:

David Poile Predicts Preds to Stand Pat This Free Agency Period

by Dan Mount | June 2, 2015

Nashville Predators fans got a glimpse of what General Manager David Poile and the organization might do this offseason when he spoke at the 2015 Music City Sports Fest on Saturday.

Poile took questions from the fans, addressed what might happen when free agency starts July 1 and revealed the logo for the 2016 All-Star Game coming to the Music City.

Poile said that most of the work will be done in trying to bring back restricted free agents like Colin Wilson, Craig Smith and others. The Predators only five forwards that aren’t in any type of free agency.

Franson, Santorelli Not Expected Back

David Poile also said that Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli are likely not to return to the team. Poile also revealed that he would probably look to promote from within meaning players like Viktor Arvidsson and Fiala would be getting an opportunity to make the big club.

The deal for Franson and Santorelli cost the team its first round pick in the upcoming draft. The deal was a swing and a miss for the team as they thought they would be two bodies needed for a deep playoff run.

This was also posted on the Hockey writers website:

Preds End of the Year Report Card: Mike Santorelli

by Colin Fitts | June 11, 2015

The Hockey Writers Nashville Predators staff writer Colin Fitts will evaluate the performance of each player on the 2014-15 Predators roster every weekday in alphabetical order. You can follow Colin on Twitter, @FittsTHW.

Mike Santorelli

Position: Center/Right wing

Age: 29

Height/Weight: 6 foot, 189 lbs

Stat Line: 22 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS, -7 +/-, 26 PIM, 8 hits, 8 blocked shots, 45% face-off, 12:54 AVG TOI

Playoffs Stat Line: 4 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 PTS, +2 +/-, 0 PIM, 4 hits, 1 blocked shot, 13:20 AVG TOI

*Points at Home vs Away: Home – 0 G, 2 A | Away – 1 G, 1 A

*Giveaway/Takeaway Correlation: 2 giveaways, 9 takeaways

Contract Status: Unrestricted free agent ($1.5 million cap hit in 2014-15)

Highlight of the Year: It took seventeen games before Santorelli finally scored for the Predators. His goal at 6:47 of the second period proved to be the game-winner in a 3-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Mar. 26.

Strengths: Though Santorelli hardly mustered anything offensively in his short stint with the Preds, you cannot give him grief for not generating chances. Santorelli was close to scoring in nearly every game, but it was never meant to be. He is a tremendous skater and a relentless forechecker. Unfortunately, he did not fit in Nashville.

Weaknesses: Santorelli was nothing short of a disappointment for general manager David Poile and the Predators. Prior to being acquired by Nashville, Santorelli was producing healthy offensive numbers for the Toronto Maple Leafs scoring 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 57 games. For some reason, when Santorelli arrived in the Music City, he lost his scoring touch. Not only was he absent offensively, he was unreliable defensively. According to War-on-Ice.com, his on-ice goals against per sixty minutes was a team-worst (2.93). After joining the Preds with his Toronto counterpart Cody Franson, the team ended the year with a mediocre 9-13-4 record.

What to Expect Next Season: Santorelli is expected to hit the free agent market on July 1. Poile said during his annual offseason address he would “probably not do anything” with the UFA.

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