The Leafs sign Kontiola and Santorelli
steve laidlaw
2014-07-03
Fantasy Impact: The Leafs have signed forwards Pettri Kontiola and Mike Santorelli to one-year deals.
The Leafs get: A couple of versatile forwards in their respective primes on affordable one-year deals. Leaf fans should be happy that their team opted to steer clear of the madness on July 1 this year instead waiting for these low-risk, high-reward signings.
Fantasy Players Impacted: Kontiola, obviously simply because he wasn't an asset worth considering while he spent the last five seasons in the KHL. He has returned to North America and will get his first crack at NHL play since he laced them up for 12 games with the Blackhawks in 2007-08.
Kontiola posted some impressive numbers in a few seasons in the AHL so presumably his game does translate to the smaller ice surface. He has also excelled at the KHL level where his best season saw him finish tied for 11th in league scoring. Don't be over the moon for Kontiola because we've seen players of his ilk come and fail before (think Roman Cervenka) but he's definitely worth a shot in deep leagues.
Santorelli is a versatile forward who can play wing or center, which should help him earn valuable minutes in the Toronto lineup. With Kontiola as well as Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri already in place you can expect Santorelli to start on the wing, which works just fine. He probably won't start in the top six forwards but as he did last season, Santorelli could very well work his way up the lineup.
As with Kontiola, do not expect a star here but rather a solid depth scorer who could have a few hot weeks if promoted in the lineup (think the 15 points in 21 games he posted from mid-November to late December).
Since Kontiola and Santorelli essentially just replace outgoing free agents David Bolland and Nikolai Kulemin this doesn't really impact anyone on the Leafs roster aside from maybe Matt Frattin who was brought back in to fill a third/fourth line role. Frattin on a line with Kontiola and Santorelli could be decent.
I suppose Kontiola and Santorelli both pose threats to Leo Komarov but you are really only drafting him for hits anyhow.
Fantasy Players this helps, in order:
Mike Santorelli
Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:
Leo Komarov
Kontiola’s stats:
Related Posts
UPCOMING GAMES
PIT
WPG
ANA
BUFStarting Goalies
Top Skater Views
DAL
S.J
CBJ
COLTop Goalie Profile Views
CGY
CAR
DET
LINE COMBOS
| Frequency |
 ARI Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 25.8 | NICK SCHMALTZ ALEXANDER KERFOOT CLAYTON KELLER | |
| 17.5 | DYLAN GUENTHER LAWSON CROUSE LOGAN COOLEY | |
| 17.2 | AKU RATY JACK MCBAIN MATIAS MACCELLI | |
DobberHockey Podcasts
Keeping Karlsson Short Shifts – Regicide
Jeremy and Shams are here to break down all the new injuries and update timelines as well. After all the injury news they close out the show covering all the cold Kings players giving actionable fantasy advice on each one. Lastly, they close out the show the latest hot Russian forward for Columbus that is only 1% rostered on Yahoo right now.
Keeping Karlsson: Marchment Madness
Elan and Brian look at who comes out on top the Avalanche return to health, opine on the likelihood of complementary top six players in Toronto, Los Angeles and Edmonton remaining relevant, and consider giving up on underachievers in Chicago, Dallas and Philadelphia.
Fantasy Hockey Life: Corey Sznajder
Corey Sznajder of allthreezones.com joins the show to talk about how he tracks microstats and identifies a couple of players they might help them assess. Have a listen! Our show is part of the Dobber Podcast Network and sponsored by Fantrax.com. Email [email protected] and ask to join our free discord. Join our Patreon at Patreon.com/fantasyhockeylife […]
Keeping Karlsson: Matchup Maximizer Week 7
Jeremy subs in to look at the schedule for the upcoming week of NHL action and recommends some players with good schedules that you should consider streaming in to win your head to head matchups.
Keeping Karlsson Short Shifts – Permission To Cut
Jeremy and Shams cover the usual headlines and injuries but get your permission slips out as the second half of the show they cover a litany of suggested players from the Patreon community to give their input on whether it’s ok to cut that big name player off your fantasy team.