This Leafs season has a couple of ties to the Nashville
Predators. On November 19th the Preds handed the Leafs a 9-2 loss at the ACC,
which proved to be the wakeup call this team needed, going 9-1-1 since the mid
November debacle. During this streak, the Leafs have seen improved play from a
majority of the team, however, they have been led by an unsuspecting player,
who happens to be a former Nashville Predator.
Mike Santorelli was
picked 178th overall in the 6th round of the 04 NHL entry draft by the
Predators. Santorelli spent the bulk of his time in Milwaukee with the Preds
AHL affiliate, scoring 171Pts (74G, 97A) over 3 seasons with the Preds AHL
affiliate. He only ended up playing 32 games with the big club in Nashville,
making his NHL debut in the 08/09 season. In 2010/11 Santorelli became a member
of the Florida Panthers, and finally experienced his first full 82 game season,
where he posted his career highs in goals (20), assists (21) and points (41).
Following the success of this season, he would experience a huge drop off,
appearing in only 60 games. During the lockout season he played 4 games in
Sweden for Tingsryds AIF, and 24 games for the Panthers, before eventually
ending up in the AHL once again and closing out the season in Winnipeg. It
appeared as though he would end up another journeyman playing in the NHL,
bouncing from team to team, never being able to find a home.
Last season,
Santorelli signed with his 4th NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks. In what was a
productive season, he played 49 games and finished the season with 10G, 18A for
28Pts, while also earning league wide recognition for his play on the penalty
kill. However, the theme of not being able to stick with an NHL club continued
as Santorelli did not receive a new contract from the Canucks. Luckily for the
Leafs, and Santorelli, this season Dave Nonis and the rest of the Toronto front
office realized that depth was something an NHL team needed to do things like
win hockey games.
In an offseason where
the Leafs turned their attention to addressing the depth (or lack thereof) on
the team, by signing guys such as; Leo Komarov, Daniel Winnik and David Booth.
Perhaps the best offseason move the Leafs made came on July 3rd when the signed
Mike Santorelli to a 1yr, $1.5 million deal. In the Leafs current 9-1-1 streak,
Santorelli leads the team in scoring (3G, 10A, 13 Pts) and seems to have found
great chemistry on the Leafs hottest line alongside Kadri and Winnik. For the
season, Santorelli has 6G, 16A, 22Pts, which puts him on pace to set career
highs in all three categories. Santorelli is 4th overall in team scoring,
behind only Kessel, Bozak and JVR, and is tied for 2nd overall in the entire
league in +/- (+17). Also, Santorelli (along with Winnik) has been a pivotal
piece of the Leafs 10th ranked penalty kill. For a $1.5 million dollar
"prove it" contract, so far Santorelli is setting himself up for an
"I proved it, now pay me" contract next offseason.
It has been fun to
watch the Leafs on this current streak, and all of us in Leafs nation hope that
it continues. The highlight for me personally has been the emergence and consistent
play of Mike Santorelli, a journeyman NHLer who is quickly becoming a fan
favourite here in Toronto. It's still too early to tell if he will finally be
able to land a long term deal to stay with the Maple Leafs, however, if he
continues to play at the level he is, this may turn out to be a match made in
hockey heaven, and Santorelli may finally have found a place to call home.
