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Leafs Sign Santorelli, KHLer Kontiola; Ex-Leafs Find Homes

July 3, 2014, 11:07 AM ET [2555 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Per TSN's Darren Dreger, the Leafs have signed forward Mike Santorelli to a one year, $1.5 Million contract.

The 28-year-old Santorelli can play center and wing and scored 10 goals and 18 assists in 49 games with Vancouver last season, before suffering a season ending arm injury in mid-January.

This likely means that Toronto is out of the running for free agent center David Legwand and possibly Steve Ott.

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The Maple Leafs have added organizational depth up the middle with the signing of Finnish center Petri Kontiola to a one-year contract worth $1.1 Million on Thursday.

The 29-year-old was selected 196th overall in 2004 by the Chicago Blackhawks and played 147 games in the American Hockey League and 12 games for the Hawks before bolting for the KHL. In five seasons with Magnitogorsk and Chelyabinsk, Kontiola has scored in double figures four times and has vast international experience, including Finland’s bronze medal win at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

According to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, five or six NHL teams were heavily pursuing the veteran center after he bought out the final year of his KHL contract to pursue opportunities in North America. It is likely that the July 1 signing of fellow Finn Leo Komarov was a contributing factor in Kontiola’s decision.

Although this appears to be a signing intended to add to the Leafs bottom six, hockey analytics guru Rob Vollman believes that Kontiola could be a bigger contributor than that.

Kontiola led the Finns at the Sochi games Olympic team at this year's Winter Games in Sochi with five points(1G, 4 A) in six games, was fourth among the team's forwards in ice time and the team outscored their opponents 8-2 when he was on the ice. His overall game could translate to a playmaking center, but his offensive numbers would be dependent on whether he gets an opportunity to play with skilled linemates.



TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Toronto was among a number of teams that were waiting
for free agent center David Legwand to make a decision on a contract offer. The signing of Kontiola could be an indicatior that Legwand has decided to go elsewhere and that the price for other free agents centers like Steve Ott is too rich for GM Dave Nonis, who has to resign RFA’s Cody Franson, Jake Gardiner, Peter Holland and James Reimer and add a couple more players to fill out the Leafs roster for the 2014-15 season.

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A number of former Leafs found homes on Wednesday. Winger Nikolai Kulemin agreed to a four-year, $16.75 Million deal with the NY Islanders, joining former linemate Mikhail Grabovski who inked a four-year, $20 Million deal on Long Island.

Winger Jay McClement and defenseman Tim Gleason joined the growing number of ex-Torontonians in Carolina, as the veterans both signed one-year, $1 Millon deals with the Hurricanes.

The Canes currently have former Toronto first rounder Jiri Tlusty, defensemen John-Michael Liles, Jay Harrison and goalie Drew MacIntyre in their organization.


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