Steven Michael Santini (born March 7, 1995) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

who is currently playing for the

Springfield Thunderbirds The Springfield Thunderbirds are a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League that began play for the 2016–17 season. They are the affiliate of the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues. Based in Springfield, M ...

in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) while under contract to the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL). He has also played for the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The club was founded as the Kans ...

and the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

. He played for the

Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey The Boston College Eagles are a Division I college hockey program that represent Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The team has competed in Hockey East since 1984, having previously played in the ECAC. The Eagles have won five natio ...

team of the NCAA

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 fo ...

conference. Santini was selected by the

in the 2nd round (42nd overall) of the

2013 NHL Entry Draft The 2013 NHL Entry Draft was the 51st NHL Entry Draft. All seven rounds of the draft took place on June 30, 2013, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The top three selections were Nathan MacKinnon going to the Colorado Avalanche, Al ...

Playing career

Amateur

Santini spent his first two years of high school at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in

Somers, New York Somers is a town located in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 20,434. The nearby Metro-North Commuter Railroad provides service to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan with ...

before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan to participate in the

USA Hockey National Team Development Program The United States National Team Development Program (NTDP) was started in 1996 by USA Hockey as a way to identify elite ice hockey players under the age of 18, and centralize their training. There are two teams in the program: under-17 and under- ...

. As a youth, Santini played in the 2008

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with the New York Rangers

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...

team. Santini was rated as a top prospect who had been projected as a first round selection of the

. He trained with the

team from 2011 to 2013, and won a Silver Medal with Team USA at the

2013 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2013 IIHF U18 World Championship was the 15th IIHF World U18 Championship and was hosted in Sochi, Russia. This was also a test event for the facilities to be used in the 2014 Winter Olympics. It began on 18 April 2013 with the gold medal g ...

where he was named the tournament's best defenseman. In his first season at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

, Santini earned his role as a top-4 defensemen with the Eagles, garnering a reputation as a hard-hitting, shut-down defenseman, while also producing 3 goals and 11 points on the season. He was named to

's All-Rookie team. He also played at the 2014 World Juniors for the United States. Santini started his sophomore campaign paired with freshman

Noah Hanifin Noah Hanifin (born January 25, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Carolina Hurricanes, who drafted him fifth overall in the 2015 NHL ...

as the top-2 defenseman for the Eagles, however, he only played in four games to start the season before being shut down due to a wrist injury. He underwent surgery, missed 16 games and returned to the lineup after the New Year's break. He scored one goal and assisted on 19 as a junior, while helping the BC Eagles to a

Frozen Four The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...

appearance where they fell short to Quinnipiac.

Professional

He signed a three-year entry level deal with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League on April 9, 2016. He played his first NHL game later that night against the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Divi ...

. Santini scored his first NHL point in his 2016–17 NHL debut, during a 3-0 win over the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The ...

on January 2, 2017. He scored his first NHL goal on January 12, 2017, against the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

, due to a puck deflecting off his elbow. The Devils ended up losing in overtime 3–2. As a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

, Santini signed a three-year, $4.25 million contract with the Devils on August 14, 2018. On June 22, 2019, Santini was traded by the Devils along with prospect Jeremy Davies and draft picks to the

in exchange for

P. K. Subban Pernell-Karl Sylvester Subban ( ; born May 13, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Between 2009 and 2022, he played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, a ...

. In the following 2019-20 season, Santini struggled to make an impression with the Predators, appearing in just 2 games over the course of the season while playing the majority of the campaign in the AHL with affiliate, the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

. On October 7, 2020, Santini was placed on unconditional waivers by the Predators for the purpose to buyout the remaining year of his contract. On October 10, Santini signed as a free agent to a one-year, two-way contract with the

Personal life

Santini's grandfather, Bob, coached hockey at

Mount Saint Michael Academy Mount Saint Michael Academy is an all-boys' Roman Catholic high school in the Wakefield neighborhood of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The school's campus also borders the city of Mount Vernon in neighboring Westchester County and is ad ...

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

and founded the Catholic High School Hockey League which became part of New York's

Catholic High School Athletic Association The Catholic High School Athletic Association or CHSAA is a high school athletic association made up of Catholic high schools based in New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Buffalo. It is the largest Catholic high school athletic league in ...

. Santini's father, Steve, played college hockey at

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

and his uncle, Rob, played at

Iona Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though the ...

. Steve and Rob later opened Brewster Ice Arena in

Brewster, New York Brewster is a village and the principal settlement within the town of Southeast in Putnam County, New York. Its population was 2,390 at the time of the 2010 census. The village, which is the most densely populated portion of the county, was nam ...

where Santini grew up playing hockey. Santini's three sisters also attended John F. Kennedy Catholic High School. Santini is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and his decision to attend Boston College was based in part on its being a Jesuit institution.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santini, Steven 1995 births Living people Albany Devils players American men's ice hockey defensemen Binghamton Devils players Boston College alumni Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey players Catholics from New York (state) Ice hockey players from New York (state) Milwaukee Admirals players Nashville Predators players New Jersey Devils draft picks New Jersey Devils players People from Mahopac, New York Sportspeople from the New York metropolitan area St. Louis Blues players Springfield Thunderbirds players USA Hockey National Team Development Program players Utica Comets players