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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