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Gunnarson traded to the Blues for Polak, draft pick

From reading the Blues HFboards, I am not really getting the impression that he can't skate, it's the outlet pass he struggles with but otherwise he should be a good addition. Bummed to lose Gunnar tho, would have much rather traded Franson.
 
I thought it was only 200-something K that we retained in the deal?

Capgeek says 630K

We also have a bonus overage of just under 475K
 
Gunnarsson is the kind of player you hope your GM is wise enough to poach from another team, because his value exceeds what you see on the stat sheets......not surprising at all that it's a smart franchise like St.Louis that snatched him up.
 
Gunnarson has been mediocre, lets not lose our brains over it.

A C defender for a C defender. Not a good trade for either team, just shuffling of defenseman.
 
The only way that trade is even remotely defensible is if Carl's hip is done and the Leafs know this to be the case.
 
Leafin' said:
Gunnarson has been mediocre, lets not lose our brains over it.

A C defender for a C defender. Not a good trade for either team, just shuffling of defenseman.
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Gunnarsson is medicore? He played on the top pairing with Dion last year and was a team high plus rating, while I don't think he's a top pairing guy he's at worst a mid pairing guy who can sub in on the top pairing if an injury occurs. Mediocre would be a guy like Franson or Gleason....

The Leafs have essentially down graded here, they give up a top pairing blueliner (and yes on this team he is one) for a guy who was a bottom pairing one on the Blues, big time slide. Then on top of that Nonis gave up a 4th rounder which is just moronic on it's own merit.... you don't piss away picks like that and like Nonis has been doing for over a year now....

Bad trade all around... I'm not so much pissed we gave up Gunnarsson, to me the much bigger issue is the draft pick we through in on the deal.... it's just mind boggling how Nonis doesn't get it, he doesn't get how to build through the draft like the good teams do, instead he just loves to chuck them away for a quick fix.

Until MLSE learns a) to keep their picks (whether it be the 1st or 7th round) and b) properly learns to develop them.... this team will forever be spinning its wheels in mediocrocity
 
Leafin' said:
I don't know about that. If i asked you about Franson this time last year, your answer would be different. This is a guy that was viewed as a cornerstone for our defense after the Boston series and a guy that was looking at big money. It would suck to lose him for nothing and watch him develop into the top-4 defender we all thought he was going to be.

I think a lot of Fransons issues are due to the coaching staff not playing him correctly. Maybe with a slight adjustment in coaching we might see the valuable Franson again.
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I can fault Carlyle for a lot of things but he's not to blame Franson being the player he is. Franson is basically a poweplay specialist who excels at getting his shot on net, but struggles with speed and he makes far too many miscues out the epsically when it comes to joining the rush at the wrong time, making ill advised passes that get intercepted a lot of the time, he struggles against speed players espically getting burne on the outside. Those are all weaknesses within Franson, they are what they are and at 27 he's not going to suddenly get much better then what he is currently... thats on Franson, not Carlyle.

Carlyle needs to use him better to an extent... this guy needs very sheltered minutes on the bottom pairing against less skilled players.... putting him in the top 4 is a bad idea, and hell I'd even limit him to the 2nd powerplay unit.

Of course my first option is that he gets traded, but its looking more and more like he'll be back next year, can only hope Carlyle puts him in a far lesser role.
 
In the sprint portion of the testing, the three fastest skaters were No. 1 Andy McDonald, No. 2 Roman Polak and No. 3 Chris Porter. All three are fitness freaks and perennial winners in the event.
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John Kelly on the Blues broadcasts has said in recent seasons that he thinks that Polak might be the fastest player on the team and that other guys could skate forwards and Polak could beat them skating backwards. I don't think that's true, but watch him the next time there's a puck coming back for icing. He doesn't get beat very often. I would not call him a graceful or agile skater. Few defensemen are.
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Maybe not as slow as some may think. Dude is built like a truck as well. 6' 236lb.
 
Leafin' said:
Gunnarson has been mediocre, lets not lose our brains over it.

A C defender for a C defender. Not a good trade for either team, just shuffling of defenseman.
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Gunnarsson is much better than Polak. If Gunner is "C defender", Polak is a D-.
 
Here's proof that our GM does not know the player he just traded for...

"He's a tough guy to play against," Nonis said of Polak, picked in the sixth round of 2004 Draft. "If you look at the minutes he plays he often plays against team's top players. He is very physical, he's very strong. I think there's a perception that because he's so big he's not mobile, I don't think that's true at all. We think that one of his strengths is his skating ability. He's going to provide a little bit of edge."
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First of all, the minutes he plays shows he's the Blues 3rd unit dman in 5-6 slot, hitch does not trust him for anything more than 16 min a game, that tells you something. He DOES NOT play against the other team's top players. In fact his Corsi shows he is shielded from them, and face the weakest opponents. He is not used much in close games, and he is on 2nd PK minutes not 1st.

And on his skating and his speed, he was a decent skater but many blues fans have said he's lost a step over the past years, where he's also lost some games to injuries. The fact his injuries are creeping up is possibly a sign of a player physically playing over his size. Polak is listed as 6'0 or 6'1, and while he's a 230lbs player for a smallish dman to play that physical style it does take a toll over the years.

This trade has the potential of looking stempniak bad for us.
 
I will say it is tough to get minutes on the Blues. IMo they have the best top 3 in the NHL. Gunnar's ice-time will go down in St.Louis. He won't get the opportunities Steen did.
 
If memory serves, I believe that Polak is a decent shot blocker. With the amount of times the Leafs get outshout in a game, this should at least help in that area a bit.
 
Blueman said:
If memory serves, I believe that Polak is a decent shot blocker. With the amount of times the Leafs get outshout in a game, this should at least help in that area a bit.
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We can always take that route...or we could not trade for defenders who are turn over machines, so that we have the puck more and don't give up as many shots.
 
From a 1-on-1 value perspective, the Leafs are getting the raw-end. Gunnar's a better player than Polak. And I don't know why the **** the Leafs are retaining $200,000 and giving up a pick.

But the Leafs brass seem to think Polak's a better fit for this team. And I don't mind the emphasis on better fit. The Leafs on the ice add up to a lot less than their talent level. It's not talent the team is lacking. Adding more talent would help, could even get this team into the playoffs - but they're not going to win a Cup on talent alone. Whatever would help unify and balance the team into a more cohesive whole is welcome, IMO. And an emphasis on that as the most important thing - like it is on the Wings, the Bruins, the Kings - is a good sign to me.
 
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