Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports

Former Vancouver Canucks forward Mike Santorelli – a pending unrestricted free agent – would have some interest in returning to his hometown this summer, his agent JP Barry told News 1130 Sports on Tuesday.

“I’m sure he would,” Barry responded when asked if Santorelli would re-sign with the Canucks. “He loved playing for his hometown team.”

The Canucks allowed Santorelli to walk last summer, but were reportedly interested in re-acquiring him at the trade deadline, so we might reasonably suspect that management rates him as a useful player. 

The versatile two-way forward signed a one-year, bargain basement deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs for $1.5 million last summer and played very well in Toronto. He was subsequently traded to Nashville as part of the Cody Franson trade prior to the deadline and struggled, managing just four points in 22 games with the Predators, who don’t seem to have much interest in bringing him back.

So should Vancouver give Santorelli another look as a free agent?

The 29-year-old’s best asset is definitely his versatility. Though Santorelli has mostly lined up as a winger during his NHL career, he’s capable of filling in at centre and performing ably. He did so often in Vancouver when John Tortorella decided to play Ryan Kesler with the Sedin twins, and had excellent chemistry on a secondary line with Chris Higgins and Alex Burrows in particular. He was similarly effective as a part-time centreman with the Maple Leafs.

Santorelli’s face-off percentage dropped significantly last season, though it’s worth noting that most of that dip came on offensive zone draws. It’s possible this was systems related, particularly since he played for Randy Carlyle for much of the season. Still it’s fair to say that while Santorelli can fill-in at pivot, he isn’t an ace face-off man.

That hardly matters when you look at Vancouver’s centre depth (or lack thereof) though. With full-time centre Brad Richardson and part-time injury fill-in centre Shawn Matthias both likely to sign elsewhere as unrestricted free agents, adding a player like Santorelli would give the club some injury insurance (or some Linden Vey is really a winger insurance).

While there’s a lot to like about Santorelli’s game, including his versatility, his skating ability, his positive penalty differential and decent scoring rate, he’s arguably a somewhat redundant piece on a Canucks team that already employs Chris Higgins and Jannik Hansen. It’s not like the club is hurting for slightly above average middle-six forwards who play a strong two-way game.

There’s also the issue of cost. Barring any dramatic moves at the draft, Vancouver will pressed up against the upper limit of the salary cap this summer. After signing a pair of inexpensive one-year deals in consecutive summers, it’s likely that Santorelli will be looking for a raise and some additional security this summer. He’s very probably earned it.

Writing over at Pro Hockey Talk, Jason Brough softly suggested that Santorelli should really only be considered on a hometown discount. That’s probably fair. 

One way or another though, it’s apparent that the Canucks are going to need to add some credible NHL depth down the middle of their forward group this summer.