NHL Trade Rumors: Roman Polak, Nick Spaling Sent to San Jose Sharks for Raffi Torres
The Toronto Maple Leafs and the San Jose Sharks executed a trade involving several players just before the NHL trade deadline on Monday. The trade officially sent defenseman Roman Polak and forward Nick Spaling to the Sharks, while the Maple Leafs got Raffi Torrest and two draft picks — a second round pick for 2017 and another one for 2018.
This latest development is a clear sign that the Maple Leafs are heading into a rebuilding phase. They already sent the team's captain prior to this one, and now, the 29-year-old Polak will be playing for another team that is still in contention for the postseason. In a total of 55 games for Toronto this season, he produced a single goal and 12 assists.
Polak was given a five-year contract by the St. Louis Blues back in 2011, but he did not complete his stint with the team after the Leafs traded for him two years ago.
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While the team has literally traded away almost all of their best and most senior players, the concept of rebuilding is to get high picks in the future drafts, and that's what they got here, not to mention the services of the controversial Raffic Torres. But sources are saying that Torres will be assigned to the San Jose Barracuda in the AHL. Torres is an intimidating figure wherever he goes, having been suspended for all sorts of issues in his career.
Spaling, meanwhile, is a utility player who had a decent performance as a fourth-liner for Toronto this season, but his obvious weakness is the lack of offensive ability. He only scored one goal in more than a year for the team. For the Sharks, sending their future picks to the Leafs was all worth it, considering they got two players who are expected to immediately contribute as they make a push for the Western Conference postseason scenario.
