Gunnarson traded to the Blues for Polak, draft pick

Polak's Fancy Stats 2013-14 (team rank):
CF%: 49.2% (7th)
Corsi Rel QoC: -0.184 (4th)
Corsi Rel QoT: -1.313 (5th)
GAon/60: 2.17 (3rd)
PDO: 997
Off Zone St: 46.4% (6th)
Off Zone Fin: 50.2% (6th)
On Ice Sh%: 7.90 (6th)
G/60: 0.23 (1st)
P/60: 0.63 (6th)


2012-13 (rank)
CF%: 50.0% (4th)
Corsi Rel QoC: 0.291 (4th)
Corsi Rel QoT: -0.301 (5th)
GAon/60: 2.05 (2nd)
PDO: 982 (6th)
Off Zone St: 47.5% (3rd)
Off Zone Fin: 51.0% (1st)
On Ice Sh%: 7.06 (5th)
G/60: 0.08 (5th)
P/60: 0.39 (5th)

So he has been a little bit unlucky with the low PDO, On Ice Shooting Percentage, and Quality of Teamates. However, he doens't offer much offensively either way. Defensively, despite poor linemates and an unfavourable amount of defensive zone starts, he is about even possession player, and isn't on the ice for a lot of goals against.

He's nothing special, but he just a solid defenseman that makes more good decisions than poor ones and has the size and skating on the right side. The Leafs needed that.

yeah, polak impressed me too. decision making was much better than i expected. toughess and speed i expected though.

just preseason but very encouraging.

but iml robidas should be the key here, as long as he doesn't fall off too much. that's a legit quality top pair dman for most of his career. should be a good upgrade over gunnar on the top pair, and polak looks like he'll be just as big an upgrade over gleason/ranger. i think gunnar is the better player but polak doesn't have to replace what gunnar brought and his strengths will be a welcome addition.

and if rielly/gards take a step up, and if phaneuf benefits from the side switch and the better partner, and if percy is an upgrade....

Polak 4 on 5 Defensmen with 1:30+ PKmins/g (NHL Rank)
GAon/60: 4.43 (14th)
Corsi On: -64.94 (6th)
Off Zone Finish: 50.0% (5th)


And he is a damn good PKer.

Yeah the D is much better constructed this year, and Franson aside has no liabilities that can't play in the NHL. The additions of Robidas and Polak give them a couple of vets that can share the load with Phaneuf. And then its all about what they get out of the young guys.

Rielly, Gardiner and Percy are the keys. When they hit their stride the D core could be very, very good. And they might not be far away. Gardiner played at a 50 point pace the second half of last year, and Percy's game is pretty simple but effective. And of course Rielly is just awesome.

Like you said, there are still question marks, but its not a bad group to take a chance on considering what we've had to trot out there the last few years.

BeLeafer said:

Yeah, this looks good if his hip is done. Otherwise, we got poor value for the assets (although I do like Polak and think he's a good addition to the blueline).

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Well, his hip thus far doesn't look good. how many guys can return to form after that?

That's why the Leafs threw in additional assets. The Blues were taking a risk.

zeke said:

yeah, polak impressed me too. decision making was much better than i expected. toughess and speed i expected though.

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You literally responded to my question about does he have speed and said no on page 2...lol.