Santorelli Signs With Toronto

So the Canucks waver and take time making a decision on signing local product Mike Santorelli and as quick as the Canucks are thinking about it, the Maple Leafs signed both Mike Santorelli and Petri Kontiola to one-year contracts.

Santorelli’s deal is worth US$1.5 million, according to a league source and while at the young age of 28-year-old spent last season with the Vancouver Canucks.

Santorelli, 28, had an impressive 10 goals and 18 assists in 49 games for Vancouver before a shoulder injury derailed his season.

Kontiola will reportedly make $1.1 million and his agent, Mark Gandler, confirmed the one-year contract and said the Finnish centre had to pay 20 million Russian rubles — roughly C$620,297 — to get out of the final season of his KHL deal.

Kontiola, 29, spent the last five seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League. Before that he played 12 games for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2007-08 season, recording five assists and also helped Finland win Bronze at the Sochi Olympics with five points in six games.

Coupled with Tuesday’s signing of Finn Leo Komarov, the Leafs retooled at forward after letting Mason Raymond, Dave Bolland and Jay McClement leave in free agency. Komarov returned to Toronto after a year in the KHL.

The new look Canucks are not only looking at changes on the ice, but also looking to gain fan support, which was lost under former GM Mike Gillis.

How will this loss alone hurt the on-ice performance for the Canucks, when they gave up on Mason Raymond, who also recently signed with the Flames after failing to reach terms with the Leafs.