Does Anyone Have a Mike Santorelli update?

[alt kilgore]

The fact that Hansen and Higgins are signed and he isn't. You can't sign just guys because they're cool and you like them. We have too many of those already.

Its not that he's "cool", its that he was HOT. I'd rather have him than Hansen any day.

Fun fact: Even though he was out for half the season he ended up 7th in points @ 28, one less than Kassian:

H Sedin

D Sedin

Kesler

Higgins

Garrison

Kassian

Santorelli

Tied with Hansen for 4th overall for GWG

Third in +/- with a +9

Here's a player who's exit from the team, Tortorella singled out at the end of the year as one of the main reasons the team tanked so bad. Take it with a grain of salt because its Torts, but its unheard of to give that much credit by a coach to a new player that last played before the new year started.

And some here would rather just hand spots to young unproven rookies as opposed to a veteran NHLer on the rebound? Stupidity.

He reminded me of Burrows a couple of years ago with his tenacity on the puck and scoring timely goals. I just pray that the new management does its research and realizes they have to re-sign him.

[Bure to Mogilny]

Rather have Santorelli than Lupul.

+1

LOL

Yep

[Lancaster]

A skilled and gritty player that can slot in as the 2nd/3rd/4th line centre, play wing, on the PP and PK, a 200-feet player and also a shootout specialist.... all for maybe under 2 million/season.

What's the issue here again?

[5nothincanucksohno]

"Plugs" don't pace for 20 goals. He was fast, feisty, had decent hands and was good defensively. He's Hansen with better hands and can win faceoffs.

As for me, I'd like to see both Horvat and Santorelli.

Sedin, Sedin, Jensen/Burrows

Trade/UFA, Kesler, Kassian

Burrows, Horvat, Santorelli

Higgins, Matthias, Richardson

As for re-signing him OP, I'd imagine Trev is waiting to hire the GM first but when that happens I'd imagine we'll work on retaining him for 1-2 years at +/- $1.5m.

I'd love to hear how his recovery is going as well. Perhaps some of our local sports media hacks can stop writing soap opera garbage for a few minutes and find out some info on him that fans are actually interested in for a change...?

I like that line-up provided everyone bounces back and/or improves

[5nothincanucksohno]

You're an idiot. Salo had the worst luck of any player I've ever seen but when he was in the line up he was our best Dman, as stated by the Sedins. Plus he was making less than $2.0M per season when he was with us and since he left to TB he's played almost every game.

Probably says something about how tough the travel is on Van players

[crazycry]

Santo isn't that good, the rest of the team was just horrible.

Agreed. The rest of the team struggling made Santorelli look better than he really is. We shouldn't re-sign him. His spot should go to one of Horvat, Gaunce or Jensen.

What more can you ask for from a guy that costed 500k! And no, the team failing didn't make him look any better. He earned his ice time, and he certainly deserved all the goals he scored.

[Junkyard Dog]

Hansen has a no trade clause too?

My god...

Limited NTC like Higgins.

[Junkyard Dog]

Why does everyone want this guy so bad? He's a washed up vet and isn't fun to watch at all. Wouldn't you rather see guys like Horvat or Gaunce in the line-up? Santo is the definition of a plug.

7th in team scoring playing 20-30 less games than all Canuck top 10 scorers. Best +/- among all Canuck forwards.

Santorelli played better than almost every single forward on our team.

If Santorelli is a plug then at least 90 percent of our forwards are complete utter trash. I guess in your logic we are a team of plugs?

Hansen should go not Santo.

[FlyLow_]

I've been waiting to hear news about santo, i'll be extremely disappointed if he's not re-signed. He's exactly what we've been hoping Hansen would be for probably half the price. Plus he's good in shootouts which is kind of a big deal for this team.

I like Hansen, but not for even close to 3 mill.

[Fozzy]

Why does everyone want this guy so bad? He's a washed up vet and isn't fun to watch at all. Wouldn't you rather see guys like Horvat or Gaunce in the line-up? Santo is the definition of a plug.

Hmmm a plug on pace for 20 goals until he was injured.

Yet you sit behind a PC making those comments whilst he has achieved far more than you ever have.

[Fozzy]

"Plugs" don't pace for 20 goals. He was fast, feisty, had decent hands and was good defensively. He's Hansen with better hands and can win faceoffs.

As for me, I'd like to see both Horvat and Santorelli.

Sedin, Sedin, Jensen/Burrows

Trade/UFA, Kesler, Kassian

Burrows, Horvat, Santorelli

Higgins, Matthias, Richardson

As for re-signing him OP, I'd imagine Trev is waiting to hire the GM first but when that happens I'd imagine we'll work on retaining him for 1-2 years at +/- $1.5m.

I'd love to hear how his recovery is going as well. Perhaps some of our local sports media hacks can stop writing soap opera garbage for a few minutes and find out some info on him that fans are actually interested in for a change...?

That was close to my line up as well.

I was thinking Booth isn't gonna be bought out so he may still be here. Other scenario is if Kesler is traded go for Stasny.

2nd line Booth- Stasny- Kassian.

People may not want Booth on a second line but he's finally healthy, last year of contract as well.

And that's a decent power line.

[DownUndaCanuck]

Santorelli was this team's MVP by a long shot. Once he was injured we went on the worst losing streak in franchise history and completely fell apart. No single player has meant that much to a team in a while. I know it may seem like a bit of an over-statement, but the Canucks without Santorelli were a completely different team.

Sure it may have been that Torts wore the star players out, but I believe our poor play down the stretch was due to the lack of this guy. He was a 2nd line winger/3rd line center and filled any hole we had. He played against top lines, scored huge goals in games and made his linemates better.

[NucksCup2015]

Definately an improvement over last year.

I would prefer Higgins instead of Matthias on the 3rd. He seemed to have some good chemistry with Kas towards the end of the season.

Higgins Santorelli Kassian

Matthias Richarson Martin

Didn't Kass and Matthias have a ton of chemistry with Booth? thought that was the line . regardless that bottom six can finally play its role and really all we need is to move Hansen and maybe a pick and hopefully pry Martin away.

Martin is a good player but certainly not an untouchable in NY as he is a role player with limited upside, he is however, exactly what the Nucks need, and NYI likely love to have a vet like Hansen with that young team. Hansen and a third hopefully could do it

[Wonder__Bread]

Reading these comments is like watching someone look for their glasses, but their on there face. If they just looked in the mirror they could see the bigger picture.

It's no coincidence that once Santo went cold/injured that our team went on a huge losing streak. He was basically the winter tires to the Canuck wagon on an icy road. Yeah the car is fully functional and is a great car, but no matter how much you put your foot down on the accelerator, without those tires you're not going anywhere.

I understand it's all about relevance with people but just because he's off the radar and people have forgotten about him doesn't mean the Canucks haven't noticed the absence. Whoever's hired will hopefully see the bigger picture and re-sign him.

Oh and Santo won't be playing 4th line, he was on the 2nd and 1st line when he was playing and him, Kesler and Higgins had great chemistry so I fully expect that to be our 2nd line next year.

[NucksCup2015]

Reading these comments is like watching someone look for their glasses, but their on there face. If they just looked in the mirror they could see the bigger picture.

It's no coincidence that once Santo went cold/injured that our team went on a huge losing streak. He was basically the winter tires to the Canuck wagon on an icy road. Yeah the car is fully functional and is a great car, but no matter how much you put your foot down on the accelerator, without those tires you're not going anywhere.

I understand it's all about relevance with people but just because he's off the radar and people have forgotten about him doesn't mean the Canucks haven't noticed the absence. Whoever's hired will hopefully see the bigger picture and re-sign him.

Oh and Santo won't be playing 4th line, he was on the 2nd and 1st line when he was playing and him, Kesler and Higgins had great chemistry so I fully expect that to be our 2nd line next year.

Higgins/Kes/Santo is not a good enough second line buddy

Higgins is really a good third liner and a great 4th liner (he is at best a 12-17 goal guy with alot of ice which is not what you want from a 2nd liner)

Santo is really a very good third liner and a capable fill in on the second (he is at best a 15-20 goal player with alot of ice and dont forget he was also a bit inconsistent before he got hurt, so in reality he's a third liner)

Not saying they aren't valuable but if thats our second line next year, expect us to be picking around the same area as this year

[ForsbergTheGreat]

That was close to my line up as well.

I was thinking Booth isn't gonna be bought out so he may still be here. Other scenario is if Kesler is traded go for Stasny.

2nd line Booth- Stasny- Kassian.

People may not want Booth on a second line but he's finally healthy, last year of contract as well.

And that's a decent power line.

Only thing is Matthias, Higgins, and hansen are not 4th line players.

4th line players only average 4-7 min a game, There role is to be strong defensively and bring enegry to the line up. You want them to play physical, drop the gloves, and sometimes chip in the odd goal. These players don't cost you a cap hit over 1 million.

Like i've said prior, 2 or 3 of the following will need to go: Higgins, Hansen, Booth, Santo

Sedin Sedin Burrows

_____ Kesler Kassian

Booth Matthias _______

Dalpe Richardson Sestito

[hockeywoot]

keep him. s/t contract with a low hit, w/o a nmc.

sedin sedin jensen

burrows kesler santorelli

higgins matthias kassian

booth richardson hansen <--thats a pretty good 4th line

or

sedin sedin matthias

burrows kesler santorelli

higgins horvat kassian

booth richardson hansen

[ForsbergTheGreat]

keep him. s/t contract with a low hit, w/o a nmc.

sedin sedin jensen

burrows kesler santorelli

higgins matthias kassian

booth richardson hansen <--thats a pretty good 4th line

or

sedin sedin matthias

burrows kesler santorelli

higgins horvat kassian

booth richardson hansen

That's a lot of money to spend on players that play less than 10 min a game

As much as Santo was a bargin deal, i personally would like to see his spot go to youth, Jensen, Shinkaruk, Horvat, Gaunce are all fighting for that spot.

sedin sedin Jensen

burrows kesler Kassian

Booth matthias higgins/Horvat

Dalpe Richardson Sestito

[theminister]

Only thing is Matthias, Higgins, and hansen are not 4th line players.

4th line players only average 4-7 min a game, There role is to be strong defensively and bring enegry to the line up. You want them to play physical, drop the gloves, and sometimes chip in the odd goal. These players don't cost you a cap hit over 1 million.

Like i've said prior, 2 or 3 of the following will need to go: Higgins, Hansen, Booth, Santo

Sedin Sedin Burrows

_____ Kesler Kassian

Booth Matthias _______

Dalpe Richardson Sestito

I don't think we should necessarily get hung up on the salaries as a determinant of aptitude for the 4th line especially if there isn't the ability to utilize it in another part of the roster. If there are not the UFAs in the high end class then we may not even spend to the cap this year barring a trade. I also think the amount of minutes for them will greatly depend on the coach. We could be forced to roll our lines a little more than in years past.

I do sympathize with your feeling in that regard though as I think we may be able to make a move at the draft to turn an excess contract into draft picks, similar in the way Chicago has been able to move Frolik and others in years past. I do agree that we may need to open up a spot or two in the lineup. Santorelli really was a good addition and he could help if resigned, which would be my preference. I think it's also entirely likely that Horvat gets carried this year. I think we'll still want to retain some ability to move players up and down the lineup if even for injury depth.

Booth may be the most likely to go, as may Hansen, but that will come down to finding a team that needs a boost on their bottom two lines. Winnipeg jumps out to me as a team that could be a good match, as does Carolina. I'd be curious to know if Toby Enstrom could be had for the right price depending on what we do with our D core.

Dalpe may not be back, same with Schroeder, and it will depend whether the new coach sees Sestito as a regular or not. I'm sure Matthias will want more than 4th line minutes but he may be a better fit as a winger. Overall I see something more like this:

Sedins-Burr

UFA/Trade-Kes-Kassian

Higgins-Matthias-Santorelli

Richardson-Horvat-Hansen

Sestito/Schroeder

Anyway, lots of options for sure. Should be interesting.

[combover]

can't have enough versatile guys that can win faceoffs , play in all situations, he's got speed and decent hands and he won't cost much. he's a great player for the transitional period this team is in waiting for the PROSPECTS to see who will pan out and who will just be out.

horvat gauce and the the rest of the prospect pool need to be developed properly down in the farm not thrown to the wolves ala the prospect ruining Oilers.