Roman Polak has signed a new contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

What...why?

Morgan Reilly
Jake Gardiner
Ron Hainsey
Nikita Zaitsev
Andreas Borgman
Calle Rosen
Connor Carrick
Martin Marincin
Travis Dermott
Andrew Nielsen

That's 10 guys who can play in the NHL. What the hell do they need an 11th for? I love Polak, and think he can be solid, but the signing right now makes no sense.

Not like it will hurt us, I guess Babcock wasn’t happy with Rosen and Borgman.

Terrible Signing. For any team in the league. Unless they want to get worse.

David, I think your list needs correction. Nielsen can't play in the NHL now. Marincin probably shouldn't. Rosen and Carrick can but are iffy. Dermot only played half a season with the Marlies, so they want to give big minutes this year. Gotta believe Rosen gets sends down ....no waivers. Polak/Carrick rotate as 3rd right side D. What can the Leafs lose? Even if Polak fails, it doesn't affect the cap, he can sent down to Marlies, or retire with no cap hit . Rosen and Borgman do not affect the cap if either are sent down either. Actually Borgman has looked good, so I think he stays a 3rd LHD.
Ethan, terrible signing? Doesn'tcost anything and certainly Polak is no worse than many teams 6th/7th guys,

Stay at home guy, helps Borgman roam free.

I feel a JVR/Bozak + Carrick deal is on the horizon.

Fair enough. And I agree Re Borgman, he's look really solid so far.

Seems like there could be a few things at work here. First, the Leafs have really struggled with big bodies in front of their net. Polak is someone who, in theory, should do well in this area, and he's likely a better person to bring on than most because he's familiar with the Leafs system. Second, this does open up the opportunity to make a defensive trade, especially with Rosen/Borgman/Carrick. Third, Polak is a notorious gym rat, and along with his skills in front of the net, he may be able to teach some of the Leafs' kids how to better deal with that situation.

Low risk, low-to-medium reward. I don't see a huge issue with it.

way to much money for a 7th Defender.. He deserves at least a 650K to 750K contract, not a 1.1 mill

He's basically Toronto's pet. This is also a pay cut from last year's 2.5 million, so it's not terrible for a bottom pairing guy; they seem to be using him as a #6 and not a #7.

Well, the money is meaningless to TML. It's the cap that's important. And he can be sent down without any cap implications.

Ice Girl. Yea he might be Toronto's pet, but he might best alternative for this year. He's sat out the last two games and his replacement, Carrick seems to woke up and played well (by Carrick standards). Having Polak just gives the Leafs time for Rosen to adjust to the North America and Dermot to get more AHL playing time, before they see the NHL. I assume Dermot is going to NHL good.

I agree by a mile