Polak for Gunnarsson

In a review of the second day's news from the NHL Entry Draft on Saturday, there were a few moves, but none bigger for us poolies than the defensemen swap between the St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Blues sent Roman Polak to the Leafs for Carl Gunnarsson and a 4th round draft pick, where the Blues picked Finnish netminder, Ville Husso.

In Polak, the Leafs get a little grittier, even if he is a little bit smaller than his trade counterpart.  Polak had 4 goals and 13 points in 72 games for the Blues in 2014, which was good enough to be 138th among defensemen in scoring, but there is definitely some belief that with bigger minutes, he could have some more offensive upside.  Polak was a 17-minute man on the ice for the Blues and with Toronto and their projected roster at the moment, he could find himself with some more quality minutes.

Gunnarsson, on the other hand, is considered to be a little bit more in the stay-at-home style of game on the blueline, which keeps him out of trouble, for the most part. On a dynamic Leafs side, he was able to pot 3 goals and 17 points in 80 games, ranking a bit better than Polak, in at 112th among defensemen. Gunnarsson will add some more stability on a blueline, which already carries some offensive potential.

Both players were taken in last year's draft at one point or another and with injury situations the way they were and could be for years to come, these two may see some more time collecting points for us poolies.

It was a straight swap of projected roster players and after the draft, there were some bonus overage calculations done as well, which St. Louis took a hit from. The Blues are now left with roughly $17 million in cap space with 17 players on their projected roster, which includes a $700,000 overage charge from last season's bonuses.

The Leafs were overage free and with this deal actually open up a little bit more cap space, now sitting with about $20 million left in space for 10 more roster spot openings.  The Leafs have openings at every position and should be able to wedge in some more reasonable, cost-efficient talent.