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Steven Santini

New Jersey Devils Recall Egor Yakovlev

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After a promising start to the season the New Jersey Devils have dropped back to back games against the Colorado Avalanche and Philadelphia Flyers, and will now welcome the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Nashville Predators to town on Thursday night. With that in mind, the team has recalled former KHL defenseman Egor Yakovlev from the minor leagues. It didn’t take long for Yakovlev to make an impact with the organization, recording seven assists in his first seven AHL contests including two in his very first game.

Signed last May to a one-year, entry-level contract, Yakovlev is making his North American debut after playing for the last six seasons in the KHL. The mobile defenseman loves to skate the puck out of trouble and found success for years in the KHL and internationally until seeing his ice time drop dramatically in 2017-18 with SKA St. Petersburg. That’s a common occurrence for a player who has indicated he’s on his way to North America, though there’s no confirmation he was sat for that reason.

If he does get into the lineup, the 27-year old will fit in with a defense corps that moves the puck extremely quickly and tries to create tempo all over the ice. The team did have seven other defensemen, but has placed Steven Santini on injured reserve after suffering a broken jaw this weekend when a puck struck him in the face. The club has also recalled forward Kevin Rooney, who had been sent down in a paper transaction yesterday.

Devils’ Steven Santini Suffers Broken Jaw

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When the Devils started Steven Santini over Ben Lovejoy on Saturday, it was in hopes that the young defenseman could help suppress some of the Philadelphia Flyers’ offense after a 5-goal effort from the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night. Not only did the Flyers win 5-2 today, but the Santini experiment barely even got off the ground. On just his second shift of the night, Santini took a puck up high and was forced to leave the ice. He did not return. In speaking to head coach John Hynes after the game, beat writer Amanda Stein reports that Santini suffered a broken jaw. He will be out indefinitely.

This is an unlucky blow for both the player and team. Santini was making his first appearance of the season for the Devils and hoping to stick in the top six this time around. The 23-year-old defenseman played in 38 and 36 games respectively in his first two pro seasons, but has yet to even play half an NHL season, nevertheless establish himself as a starter. A second-round pick in 2013, Santini was a mainstay of the U.S. Juniors program and a standout defender at Boston College for three years. Santini is a stay-at-home type and does not bring much in the way of offensive potential, but is a smart, safe option on the back end and seemingly has the skill set and demeanor of a solid bottom-pair defenseman.

While that may not sound all that exciting, Santini is the exact type of player that the Devils could use right now. After a hot 4-0 start to the season, New Jersey has allowed ten goals in back-to-back losses and have the Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning on the docket this week. With a less-than-stellar goalie tandem of Keith Kinkaid and Eddie Lack and a defensive corps that is top-heavy with offensive-minded puck movers like Sami Vatanen, Damon Severson, Will Butcher, and Mirco Mueller. The team could use more conservative, tight defensive play right now and hoped Santini could provide it. Instead, the onus could be back on banged-up Lovejoy to pick up the slack in the defensive end.

Steven Santini Re-Signs With New Jersey Devils

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The New Jersey Devils have inked another restricted free agent, signing Steven Santini to a three-year, $4.25MM contract. The salary in the contract breaks down as follows:

  • 2018-19: $1.10MM
  • 2019-20: $1.50MM
  • 2020-21: $1.65MM

Santini will still be a restricted free agent at the end of the deal (provided he plays in at least five more NHL games during that time), but this gives him some contract stability going forward and ensures his place with the Devils. The big defenseman played 36 games for the team last season and performed admirably, recording 10 points and routinely being among the most physical players on the team. That’s something GM Ray Shero pointed out in the press release for the Santini contract:

We are excited to lock up Steven, a young, developing defenseman, for the next three seasons. He provides size and a physical element that complements our existing defensive group moving forward.

The team obviously believes that Santini can handle himself in the defensive zone, as some of his poor possession statistics can be traced back to the incredibly lopsided zone-start numbers head coach John Hynes gave him. Still, those possession numbers will send up alarm bells for some New Jersey fans looking at a three-year term for the young defenseman. At a $1.42MM cap hit there is no reason to think that Santini will be a full-time player for all three seasons, but the deal is expensive enough to expect at least some contribution. With Andy Greene, Sami Vatanen and Ben Lovejoy all on deals expiring in either the 2019 or 2020 offseasons, the team will have to make some tough decisions on how the blue line will look going forward.

Santini represents the second-last RFA the Devils had to sign this offseason, as now only Miles Wood remains without a contract. Even with a raise coming for Wood, New Jersey will still rank near the very bottom of the league in terms of salary commitments and could potentially add basically whoever they want without causing real financial ramifications. Low-cost deals like the one given to Santini will ensure that the team still has enough money to hand out to players like Vatanan and Taylor Hall when their extension window opens, though they don’t guarantee that the team will move forward in the standings. We’ll have to wait and see if Santini can take another step forward in his development and become more than just a defensive zone whipping boy.

Minor Transactions: 02/02/18

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Last night had some interesting moments around the NHL, including Henrik Lundqvist getting pulled in his second consecutive game, Radko Gudas continuing his over-the-line physicality, and Jake Allen being swept out of the net before a Bruins goal. With the weekend coming up and teams trying to fix problems or find solutions, we’ll keep track of all the minor movement around the league.

Minor Transactions: 01/17/18

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The NHL has just two games on the schedule today before getting back to a full slate on Thursday, and should expect to see several minor moves around league rosters. We’ll keep track of all of them right here. Make sure to refresh throughout the day to keep track of all the movement.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Jean-Sebastien Dea from the minor leagues as they go on the road for back-to-back matchups against the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings. Dea has 23 points this season for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but has just one NHL game under his belt in his short career. Looking for that first NHL point still, he’ll have to find a way into the lineup over the next few days.
  • Casey Nelson is on his way up to Buffalo, recalled today from the Rochester Americans. Nelson played 11 games for the Sabres last season, but has yet to suit up this year. Buffalo is back in action tomorrow night after their bye week, taking on the New York Rangers.
  • Colorado has brought back center Dominic Toninato from San Antonio of the AHL.  The first year pro has skated in eight games with the Avalanche already this season while recording seven goals and five assists in 30 games with the Rampage.
  • With Washington’s bye week set to come to an end, the Capitals have recalled winger Jakub Vrana and defenseman Madison Bowey from AHL Hershey, per the AHL’s Transactions page.  The moves come as no surprise as the demotions were simply to save some cap space (a little over $33K); neither player suited up while they were with the Bears.
  • The Devils made a pair of roster moves, recalling defenseman Steven Santini from Binghamton of the AHL while sending goaltender Ken Appleby back down.  This reverses the swap from Tuesday that saw Appleby promoted to take the place of Cory Schneider who was unable to dress last night against the Islanders due to an illness.

Devils Assign Blake Speers Back To Junior; Recall Steven Santini

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While we’re still a week or two away from a lot of teams having to make decisions on their junior-aged players, the New Jersey Devils didn’t want for the nine game mark when it comes to right winger Blake Speers as the team announced that they have sent him back to Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL.

Teams can play junior-aged players up to nine NHL games before the first year of their entry-level contract officially kicks in.  This allows teams to give some of their top young prospects an extended tryout beyond training camp to determine if they are ready for a full-time roster spot or not.  There are 20 remaining junior-aged players league-wide that teams will have to make a decision on in the coming weeks.

Speers has suited up in three games with the Devils this year, being held off the scoresheet with three shots on goal while averaging 9:29 of ice time per game.  Last season with the OHL Greyhounds, the 2015 third round pick (67th overall) had 26 goals and 48 assists in 68 games.

The team also announced that defenseman Steven Santini has been recalled and will take Speers’ spot on the roster.  The team recently sent him down to give him a game in the AHL over the weekend.

[Related: Devils Depth Chart]

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