Mike Santorelli has had an up-and-down history as a Nashville Predators prospect, but that time has come to an end with a trade to the Florida Panthers for a conditional 5th-round draft pick today.
The depth chart at center in Nashville simply doesn’t afford an opportunity any more for Santorelli, who can get a fresh start with the Panthers (if the Preds had wanted to send him back to Milwaukee, he would have had to clear waivers this fall). One can bet that Mike Santos, who left the Preds to become Florida’s assistant general manager, is a believer in Santorelli’s potential. An experiment last fall which saw him play on the wing didn’t pan out, as he notched two goals and one assist in 25 NHL games. At the AHL level, however, he’s been a point-per-game player for the last two years.
Follow after the jump for the team’s press release…
Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has acquired a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2011 Entry Draft in exchange for restricted free agent forward Michael Santorelli.
The Predators now have nine selections in next summer’s Entry Draft at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. In addition to Florida’s pick, and seven picks of its own, Nashville acquired a second-round pick from New Jersey in June.
Santorelli was a sixth-round choice of the Predators (178th overall) in the 2004 Draft.
To keep up with all of our coverage of the Nashville Predators, you can subscribe to the RSS feed, follow us on Twitter (@Forechecker & @predatweeter), or catch the site on Facebook. You can also email me at the.forechecker@gmail.com.