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
N.JStarting Goalies
Top Skater Views
| Players | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| TRAVIS KONECNY |
 PHI | |
| MARCO ROSSI |
 MIN | |
| NILS HOGLANDER |
 VAN | |
| JJ PETERKA |
 BUF | |
| AARON EKBLAD |
 FLA
| |
Top Goalie Profile Views
TOR
CGY
LINE COMBOS
| Frequency |
 DAL Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 19.8 | LOGAN STANKOVEN WYATT JOHNSTON JAMIE BENN | |
| 15.6 | JASON ROBERTSON JOE PAVELSKI ROOPE HINTZ | |
| 14.7 | TYLER SEGUIN MASON MARCHMENT MATT DUCHENE | |
DobberHockey Podcasts
Fantasy Hockey Life: Florida Panthers with Colby Guy
Colby Guy joins the show to talk about the Cup champs. We discuss Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Evan Rodrigues, Anton Lundell, Mackie Samoskevich, Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Nate Schmidt, Adam Boqvist, Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight. In-Goal Magazine’s Cat Silverman joins in our Cat’s Instincts segment to discuss Spencer Knight and […]
Fantasy Hockey Life: Boston Bruins with Fluto Shinzawa
Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic joins Victor and Jesse to talk Boston Bruins. They discuss David Pastrnak, Elias Lindholm, Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie, Matthew Poitras, Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Jeremy Swayman, and Joonas Korpisalo. In-Goal Magazine’s Cat Silverman joins in our Cat’s Instincts segment to discuss Brandon Bussi and Michael DiPietro. […]
Fantasy Hockey Life: Brian Hedger on the Columbus Blue Jackets
Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch joins the show to look forward to next year’s Blue Jackets.
Fantasy Hockey Life: Nashville Predators with Bryan Bastin
Bryan Bastin of On the Forecheck joins Victor and Jesse to talk Nashville Predators. They discuss pros Filip Forsberg, Gustav Nyquist, Ryan O’Reilly, Tommy Novak, Luke Evangelista, Philip Tomasino, Cody Glass, Roman Josi, Alexandre Carrier, Juuse Saros, Kevin Lankinen, Yaroslav Askarov, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. In-Goal Magazine’s Cat Silverman joins in our […]
Fantasy Hockey Life: Toronto Maple Leafs with Cindy Caron
The Toronto Maple Leafs made it to a Game 7 overtime but were frustrated again in the playoffs. Recorded pre-free agency, Cindy Caron of I-Express.ca joins Victor and Jesse to go over the pro roster: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, Max Domi, Tyler Bertuzzi, Matthew Knies, Bobby McMann, Morgan Rielly, Timothy Liljegren, […]