The New Jersey Devils have re-signed defenseman Steven Santini to a three year deal, with an AAV of about $1.4 million.
Santini was one of the Devils two roster players that were still RFAs (Miles Wood is the other one), and since he is only fighting for the 7th D spot, they signed him for a cheap bridge deal. He\’s 23, and this deal takes him until he\’s 26, where he\’ll be an RFA again. By then, he\’ll probably have a starting job. Santini might spend some time in the AHL, as Andy Greene, Damon Severson, Sami Vatanen, Mirco Mueller, Will Butcher and Ben Lovejoy are all probably going to play most of the games this season, and Eric Gryba and Brian Strait will also fight for the 7th defenseman spot. Santini will have to beat Gryba, and then wait for an injury to get in the lineup, so I\’d only expect 35-50 games from him this year.
Santini, 23, scored two goals and eight assists for 10 points in 36 games last season. In his NHL career, all in New Jersey, Santini has scored four goals and 13 assists for 17 points in 75 games.
CarterHud 