Prospect Info: Steve Santini

[Emperoreddy]

Yeah, he's a pretty articulate guy.

To me, mentioning players like Orpik and Stuart as potential role models, that maybe speaks to a more mature understanding of the game. And how role players fit into it. Again, I really like this pick.

Of course, it gets your mind going and you start to have visions of an entirely homegrown defense where everybody is mobile and two-way, but each guy has his own little specialty (shutdown, PPQB, puckmover, big shot, etc).

With the young guys on the team already, plus all the kids with high upside it does feel like the defense factory in NJ is open again for business. Not a bad thing to be able to build a solid defense internally.

 

[Saugus]

Repeated allusions to "years" before he makes an impact on the NHL level.. he's not pretending that he's good enough yet and knows he has a lot of work to put in.

That type of realism definitely impresses me. He's not fooling himself, unlike the kids drafted in the third round who say their goal is to make the team out of camp.

 

[Rob Nieds work ethic]

That type of realism definitely impresses me. He's not fooling himself, unlike the kids drafted in the third round who say their goal is to make the team out of camp.

I always thought that was something they were told to say, to show the clubs that they are driven. It's kind of ridiculous though.

 

[Saugus]

There's driven, and then there's delusional. I'd prefer the realist, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Rob Nieds work ethic]

There's driven, and then there's delusional. I'd prefer the realist, but maybe that's just me.

No, I agree with you. How often do you really see a non-first round pick step up to the NHL immediately? Ryan O'Reilly is an exception.

 

[Classic Devil]

No, I agree with you. How often do you really see a non-first round pick step up to the NHL immediately? Ryan O'Reilly is an exception.

Bergeron.

 

[Rob Nieds work ethic]

Santini said he models his game after Mark Stuart and Brooks Orpik, and more recently Kevin Shattenkirk.

 

[Wingman77]

Bergeron.

Mark Fayne even

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

If this guy turns into an orpik type Lou picked a gem. Those type of guys are what you need in the playoffs.

 

[Classic Devil]

Mark Fayne even

Fayne spent four years in college after he was drafted.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

2nd Round , 43rd Overall

Chris Peters ‏@chrismpeters 3h
Terrific pick for the Devils. Was named best Dman at U18WC, shut down guys like Nichushkin and McDavid. Athletic, smart, physical. BC bound

Chris Peters ‏@chrismpeters 3h
Santini is such a good fit with New Jersey. Absolutely Uncle Lou's type of player.

The Ranger fan, Jon sees no upside in Santini and isn't to worried about Schneider.

Funny thing is, I'm not to worried about the Rags, at all.

 

[Team Concept]

Red Line Report's scouting profile on Santini. Red Line Report actually had Santini going at #28 to Calgary in their mock draft.

http://www.redlinereport.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Santini-Spotlight.pdf

 

[Captain Lou]

In the ISS Scouting mag they gave out at the draft yesterday, Santini was the #17 skater.

Go to college...see ya in 3 years. If this guy turns into Orpik or Stuart we hit the jackpot.

 

[Classic Devil]

In the ISS Scouting mag they gave out at the draft yesterday, Santini was the #17 skater.

Go to college...see ya in 3 years. If this guy turns into Orpik or Stuart we hit the jackpot.

I think Santini will take the 4 year route. We've got Helgeson filling the spot of big, physical, good-skating defensive defenseman ahead of him right now, and we can afford to give him the luxury of development time.

 

[Devils731]

I like this pick for it's potential upside. Reading the scouting reports, it sounds like his defensive game is already pretty strong but that they also see potential for a decent offensive game to develop from him, even though it hasn't showed up yet.

It's also not a bad thing that players consistently chose Santini as the player they'd want to continue playing with.

 

[New Jersey Devils]

The Ranger fan, Jon sees no upside in Santini and isn't to worried about Schneider.

Funny thing is, I'm not to worried about the Rags, at all.

Jon is hilarious. He thinks because his post count is in the tens of thousands he's some sort of god with expert hockey knowledge.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I love this pick.

As soon as I saw he scored 0 goals last year, I knew it was a great pick.

This is the type of player who probably could and would have been drafted MUCH higher 20 or 30 years ago, but in "Today's NHL" even defenseman typically have to have eleventy billion points to get drafted high.

 

[Marshal Rochambeau]

If he takes less then 6 years to make the NHL (4 NCAA, 2 AHL) I will be amazed.

 

[Classic Devil]

If he takes less then 6 years to make the NHL (4 NCAA, 2 AHL) I will be amazed.

That's fine. I don't mind a long development time.

 

[OHLEYE]

It shouldn't take that long for a guy like him to make the NHL. Don't forget that he would have been one of the top picks in the OHL if he was from Ontario or had he decided that that was the route he wanted to take. Which he should have. He'd be wise to go to Peterborough rather than Boston College. OHL is the top Junior league in the world. Being drafted out of the US program gives him lots of options in terms of the OHL and AHL if the Devils don't want to wait 4 plus years. Which they shouldn't.

 

[Better Call Sal]

He models himself after Orpik and is going to BC (same as Orpik). He could certainly learn a lot from Jerry York, who has been fantastic with developing players to play at a high level.

I like his game and am looking forward to his progression.

 

[Captain Lou]

I think Santini will take the 4 year route. We've got Helgeson filling the spot of big, physical, good-skating defensive defenseman ahead of him right now, and we can afford to give him the luxury of development time.

You are probably correct, though if he's ready in 3 years, that's a good thing. I am so glad we are getting back to our bread and butter.

Jim's probably loving this.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

I'll put it this way. I wanted Buffalo to take him after they took two defensemen in the first.

He's gonna be a good one.

 

[Cowbell232]

You don't really know what the needs of the team will be by the time he's ready to potentially fight for an NHL spot.

Right now, we have a logjam at D, but considering the likelihood that they all don't pan out and if too many of them do we'll be likely to trade them for forwards, or something else besides this. It's smart to draft the BPA, and that's what we likely did considering some of his rankings going into the draft.

 

[RNCDevil]

The way I look at it is impact. If you assume the following:
top 6: 45 min
bottom 6: 15 min
top 4: 45 min
bottom 2: 15 min
goalie: 60 min

You have 5 people that equal 58% of your ice time. If you focus on just those 5, you have gone a long way to winning the battle. Add in a strong top 6 and you 83% of the game won.