He began his professional career with Nashville's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

After two seasons of splitting time between Nashville and Milwaukee, he was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in 2011.

Prior to his professional career, Santorelli played college hockey with the Northern Michigan University Wildcats.

[2] In his first season with the NMU Wildcats, Santorelli led the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) in freshman goal scoring with 16, while finishing third on the team with 30 points.

[4] Santorelli did not score in the three-game first round series, but recorded a power play assist in the elimination game.

At the 2007 CCHA Tournament, NMU faced seventh-placed Ohio State University in a best-of-three first round series.

[11] He began his professional career in the 2007–08 season playing for Nashville's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

[20] Shortly after earning the accolade, he was called up by the Predators to the NHL, and made his debut on January 8, 2009, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

[28] He was recalled 10 days later and scored his first career NHL goal on October 28, 2009 against the Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Bäckström.

[6][29] He joined Milwaukee for their playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round by the Wolves, with Santorelli scoring 3 goals and seven points in the seven game series.

[36] In the preseason Santorelli beat out Michael Grabner and was given an opportunity to play on a scoring line with David Booth and Rostislav Olesz for the 2010–11 season.

[44] Prior to the start of the 2012–13 season the NHL's collective bargaining agreement expired and the owners enforced a lockout.

[45] During the lockout Santorelli signed with Tingsryds AIF in Sweden's second highest division the HockeyAllsvenskan, with whom his brother played.

After playing 24 games in the shortened season registering two goals and an assist he was placed on waivers and claimed by the Winnipeg Jets.

[49] After one season with the Canucks, who failed to make the playoffs, Santorelli signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 3, 2014.

[50] With the Leafs slipping down the standings, and setting their eyes on rebuilding, Santorelli was traded to Nashville, along with Cody Franson, in exchange for a 1st round pick, Brendan Leipsic, and Olli Jokinen.

Santorelli scored his first career playoff goal in Game 2 of Nashville's Western Conference Quarter Finals series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

[52] After 7 seasons within the NHL, Santorelli left North America as a free agent, signing a two-year contract with Swiss club, Genève-Servette HC of the NLA on July 28, 2016.